Water as a path for Adaptation to Climate Change

 COP29 Declaration on Water for Climate Action

Last week June 16^th-20^th 2025 there were more Climate Conferences. I’m not sure mankind is making progress, it is hard to see in real time. The 62nd Sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (SB62) took place in Bonn, Germany. They planned to discuss elaboration and revision of National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). There has been very little progress on that, but Friday’s secession was devoted to water.

Friday’s session consisted of two moderated panel discussions and was titled: “Mainstreaming water into NDCs and NAPs for effective adaptation, mitigation and resilience.”

Mainstreaming water into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and global climate processes to enhance adaptation and mitigation measures. They planned to do this by highlighting related tools and experiences of organizations on how they integrate water, ecosystems, water supply and sanitation. Addressing the transboundary nature and issues of water.

The event was also intended to contribute to the implementation of the Baku Dialogue on Water for Climate Action and the UN System-wide Strategy on Water and Sanitation. This event was organized within the framework of the UN-Water Expert Group on Water and Climate Change, co coordinated by UNESCO, WMO and UNECE, and in cooperation with Azerbaijan and UNEP as partners under the Baku Dialogue on Water for Climate Action, as well as with the Arizona State University (home for Professor Jay Famiglietti), the Association of Sustainable Ecological Engineering Development, and India Water Foundation. This meeting only caught my attention because of the participation of Dr. Famiglietti as the moderator of one of the panels.

Dr Famiglietti is currently a Global Futures Professor in the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University and serves as the Director of Science for the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative. He is Professor Emeritus from the University of Saskatchewan, where he was Executive Director of the Global Institute for Water Security. Before that he served as the Senior Water Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. From 2013 through 2018, he was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to the California State Water Boards in the Santa Ana and Los Angeles regions. Unfortunately for me, the event was not available to attend remotely, and I certainly was not going to fan girl in Bonn.

The Event was promoted to:  

Serve as a platform to connect water and climate experts and to support countries in integrating and subsequently implementing water-related measures in NDCs and NAPs as one of the priorities of the UN System-wide Strategy on Water and Sanitation;

Contribute to the Baku Dialogue on Water for Climate Action by providing an opportunity for countries that have already endorsed the COP29 Declaration on Water for Climate Action to exchange experiences and to encourage other countries to endorse the declaration and to join the initiative.

I asked CoPilot to   Generate a Summary of the COP29 Declaration on Water for Climate Action and then I edited it down because it was too verbose. The COP29 declaration highlights the critical importance of water in addressing climate change, emphasizing its central role in the impacts and solutions for climate challenges.

Key Concerns:

• Water is significantly affected by climate change, with impacts manifesting through floods, droughts, water scarcity, and other alterations in the water cycle.
• There is an urgent need for protecting, conserving, and restoring water resources and ecosystems, such as rivers, lakes, and groundwater, for effective climate mitigation and adaptation.
• Globally, 2.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, while 3.5 billion lack safely managed sanitation. Half the population faces severe water scarcity.
• Water-related disasters, including floods, are responsible for over 90% of disaster-affected populations and nearly 95% of infrastructure losses worldwide.

Actions Proposed:

• Strengthening leadership and cooperation on global water security to address climate-induced challenges such as water scarcity, hazards, and pollution.
• Taking integrated and intersectoral approaches to water-related climate adaptation and mitigation.
• Incorporating perspectives of vulnerable groups, including Indigenous Peoples, women, children, and persons with disabilities, in climate and water-related policies.