By Kalyani Ganesharuban
To bridge the gap between climate resilience and water security, a consortium of leading institutions in climate adaptation have partnered together to implement the Water Resilience Tracker. This tool is designed to help governments and various sectors identify the role that water needs to play in a country’s climate planning framework. Under this global project, funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA), Arup, Deltares and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) will provide policy and technical assistance to design and implement inclusive, climate-resilient national plans which better recognize the importance of water.
“Unfortunately, many current strategies focused on water security are ineffective in the face of rapidly changing climates. This is largely due to deep-rooted market and governance failures, inadequate political prioritization, fragmented initiatives, lack of clear investment planning and complexity in accessing finance,” said Harm Duel, Strategic Advisor for water and climate at Deltares. “We are eager therefore to start tackling these issues by identifying common ground and meeting points around water to enhance pathways for long-term water security.”
John Matthews, Executive Director of AGWA said, “As part of the Water Resilience Tracker project, we will collaborate with our in-country partners to explore how water resilience practices can help achieve their goals of stronger economies, vibrant societies and healthy ecosystems. Our team can provision strategic climate security at local, municipal and national level as well as access to new reservoirs of climate finance.”
“Water plays a critical role in efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change,” said Martin Shouler, Associate Director at Arup, adding that, “The Water Resilience Tracker provides an agile pathway to help build climate resilience strategies.”
Vidhisha Samarasekara, Strategic Program Director at IWMI noted that freshwater resources are at the core of climate resilience—both within and between sectors, projects, and ministries. Samarasekara said “If we don’t track the water that connects energy, health, ecosystems and agriculture, we risk conflict between sectors, failed investments and frayed economies.”
The Water Resilience Tracker falls under the broader umbrella of the Just Transitions for Water Security (JTWS) partnership; a £39 million, five-year global program that sets out an ambitious vision to address the critical need for integration of water resources across multiple agendas and sectors and make a strong case for improving policy, investment, and accountability in water governance and climate resilience.
