“Act now to prevent water conflicts”
|
||||
|
||||||
http://www.saharasamay.com/nation-news/676602678/-act-now-to-prevent-water-conflicts-.html Although Conference of Parties started in 1994 nothing substantial has emerged so far due to sheer neglect of nature and love for humanity. Whatever changes have come by have not led to positive changes.
As the world leaders discuss climate change at the ongoing 22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
in Marrakech, Morocco that began on November 7 and will continue till
November 17, increased population and demand for energy are now being
blamed to be the causes for Climate change.
“The nation states should realize the dangers of mitigation efforts through business and funding of corporate world, which would instead aggravate negative climate change impacts but not solve them,” Magsaysay and Stockholm Water Awards winner Rajendra Singh, popularly known as the Waterman of India, said in Marrakech on Monday November 14. Singh has given the slogan “water is climate and climate is water” and is campaigning for Dharwad Declaration 2016, which is an outcome of Global Water Meet for Climate Change Adaptation: Agrarian Perspectives' organized by University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka, just before the Morocco summit which was attended by water experts, activists and policy makers and farmers from across 20 countries representing five continents. The Dharwad Declaration had recommended: a) A comprehensive review of policy and holistic plan related to water use efficiency, conservation, rejuvenation of rivers, and value added services (demand driven rationing) b) Urgent attention to identify and recommend location specific and ecologically sustainable water saving crops that helps bridge the yield gap currently existing in farmers’ fields compared to results from research and demonstration programs. In Marrakech, Singh has spoken at various events like conferences, Agoras, interactions, group meetings and summit of Vice Chancellors of African Universities in the COP22 in the Green Zone, and has appealed to the global community upon placing priority on water conservation and agriculture in the global climate change adaptation programmes and funding. He has also been highlighting the success stories of community efforts in climate change adaptation through water harvesting, greening the fields and reforestation in India. Notably, Water has got the prominence at the summit level for the first time in Marrakech where there is a separate dialogue on the issue. Earlier it had figured in COP-21 in Paris last year only after a sustained movement by water activists from across the globe. As campaign for community driven water conservation is gaining ground, COP 22 in Morocco would be historic in the sense that here water, climate adaptation and community action with agrarian perspectives gets prominence. Hence, the Dharwad Declaration of Climate Change, Water and Agriculture, becomes important for water activists from across the globe. This is also because Water has already become a scarce commodity in Asia and Africa. In India, the per capita water availability has already decreased from 5177 m3 in the 1950s to 1545 m3 in 2011. Li Ji, a Professor of China Agricultural University in Beijing, who studied the water problems in north China, pointed out at the Global Water Meet that 18 provinces there face water shortage which is “serious” in at least nine of these provinces. The African nation Malawi, where people are affected by flood is already declared a disaster nation. “We cannot define floods minus climate change,” Moses Busher, National Coordinator of Centre for Children’s Affairs, Malawi, had said in Dharwad. Already there are prolonged and intensified droughts in eastern Africa; depletion of rain forests in equatorial Africa; unprecedented floods in western Africa. European countries too face the gloom. Slovakian environmentalist and recipient of Goldman Environmental Prize, Michal Kravcik, warns that in a decade, the water resources in Slovakia will decrease in total by ca 4-6 billion cubic meters annually, what represents 10-17 % of the total volume of yearly rainfalls. A UN report states that as many as 3.4 billion people will live in water-scarce countries, by 2025. There is no doubt that challenges in the water sector are aggravated by climate change impacts. What sounds ominous is that the mismatch between demand and supply of water is now creating more water conflicts. The war in Syria is being cited as an escalation of what had started as water conflicts. Syria for the last four decades was among the countries leading in food sustainability. “I saw in Turkey that big dams on Euphrates river stopped water flow to Syria. This affected Syria and people started migrating to Germany via Turkey…See this war started with water. Similar water conflicts are there in Sudan, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Jordan, Palestine. Central Asia and Africa is facing grave threat over water,” Singh claimed. Aida Shibli, a Palestinian peace worker consented that “Palestine today as many places in the Middle-East, is in a critical situation with regard to water… Coming from war zones, life and water means different.” More action is required on ground to prevent water conflicts. It is in this light that the Morocco summit is crucial |
Comments
Post a Comment