From 30 November until 12 December, the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP28, took place at the Expo City, Dubai. The 28th conference, it has been held annually since the first UN climate agreement in 1992, and is intended for governments to agree on policies to limit global temperature rises and adapt to impacts associated with climate change.
On December 10, HCSS analyst Irina Patrahau participated in a high-level panel discussion on “Water for Peace and Security: From Risk to Resilience”. Together with the Water, Peace and Security (WPS) partnership, The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the event highlighted the global issue of water scarcity as a fundamental threat to human health, peace, and security. The participants of the panel aimed to raise the issue at the highest political levels and showcase innovative solutions and strategies addressing water scarcity and local, national, and transboundary water management. Irina Patrahau explains how HCSS’ partnership with WPS has developed a toolbox that can help identify and understand water and security risks. Moreover, this event sought to initiate a meaningful dialogue with nations that currently lack water cooperation agreements, ushering in the inception of the Transboundary Water Cooperation Coalition.
Other high-level speakers in the panel included:
“Under the changing climate conditions, the escalating issue of water insecurity is emerging as a fundamental threat to human health, peace, and security. We must work together to find ways of turning water risk into resilience both domestically by ensuring good water governance involving inclusive and informed processes, and on a transboundary level’.
– HCSS strategic analyst Irina Patrahau
Rewatch the full event here:
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