Paris pact on water and climate change adaptation announced with India on board

PARIS: A broad coalition of nations including India, river basin organizations, business and civil societies from across the globe on Wednesday announced the Paris Pact on Water and Climate Change Adaptation to make water systems – the very foundation of sustainable human development - more resilient to climate impact.

These major collaborative projects represent over $20 million in technical assistance and potentially over $1 billion in financing.

India, on its part, committed to build climate resilience through improved groundwater management in the country.

Almost 290 water basin organisations are engaged under the Paris Pact on Water and Climate Change Adaptation.

The announcement was part of the “Water Resilience Focus” event under the Lima to Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) on climate change. It also highlighted other key partnerships and coalitions to make river basins, lakes, aquifers and deltas more resilient to climate change and reduce human interference with oceans.

The LPAA is a joint undertaking of the Peruvian and French COP (conference of parties) presidencies, the Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and the UNFCCC Secretariat.

It aims to strengthen climate action through 2015 and well beyond by mobilizing robust global action towards low carbon, more climate resilient societies. It will provide enhanced support to existing initiatives, such as those launched during the New York UN secretary general climate summit in September 2014 and help mobilize new partners providing them a platform for the visibility of their actions, commitments and results in the run up to COP21.

The Paris Pact on Water and Climate Change Adaptation involves a wide geographic coalition of national and cross-border river basin organisations, governments, funding agencies, local governments, companies and civil society.

It encompasses individual commitments to implement adaptation plans, strengthening water monitoring and measurement systems in river basins and promoting financial sustainability and new investment in water systems management.