By Khalid Malik
Today marks World Water Day - time for deep concern as an
adequate water supply is one the most pressing challenges facing
the world. As the Himalayan glaciers melt due to climate change,
China is one of the countries most vulnerable to the drying up of
its water supply.
Without access to clean and adequate supplies of fresh water,
communities will be unable to improve agriculture-based livelihoods
or improve health conditions.
Yet increasing demands by industrial and urban users and
increasing levels of pollution are creating serious shortages of
clean and adequate water supplies for countries around the
world.
Exacerbated water supply challenges are the emerging
consequences of global climate change. As highlighted in the
initial findings of this year's Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), there is now clear and convincing evidence that
emissions of greenhouse gases are wreaking havoc on the planet's
life support systems with far reaching implications for
humankind.
Ten of the warmest years in recorded history have occurred since
1990, coupled with increasing frequency of extreme weather events
and rapid rates of melting of the world's glaciers and ice
caps.
The time for speculation and debate over climate change is over.
We are now entering a period of consequences. In Asia, a particular
concern is the retreat of the Himalayan glaciers, threatening to
alter water supply to hundreds of millions of people in the
region.
A major UN concern, Millennium Development Goal 7 places top
priority on actions to improve water security as a critical
condition to achieve the overarching goal of eliminating extreme
poverty.
Developing countries have achieved many hard-won economic gains
over the past decades. However, the melting of the Himalayan
glaciers poses serious risks to sustaining any such gains in the
decades to come. The poor will feel the impact the hardest, since
they are the communities that lack the capacity to adapt to this
uncertain future.
The Himalayas are known as the water tower of Asia. They are the
largest location of glaciers and fresh water apart from the polar
ice caps. These glaciers feed seven of the great rivers of Asia,
the region's lifeblood for water security the Yangtze, Mekong,
Yellow, Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Salween rivers.
However, these glaciers are receding faster than any other
glaciers on the planet. Some estimates predict that they could
completely disappear by mid-century. This would result in the
eventual drying up of water supplies.
Climate change is expected to bring significant changes to local
land and water use over the next decades. This includes changes in
the seasonal supply of water as the rate of glacial melting
escalates. The glacial area has shrunk by 20 percent over the past
century. This brings risks and uncertainty for the predictability
of water flows and affects long-term development policies in the
region.
Trends in glacial melting are particularly important for water
supply challenges in China. From faster rates of glacial melting in
the west to serious land degradation in the north, significant
threats exist for China's rural population of 800 million, the
world's largest.
With per capita water availability already only a quarter of the
world's average, half the country is already experiencing
significant land degradation pressures. Future glacial melting
could impact water supplies and constrain the ability of
communities to sustain their hard won development achievements.
As highlighted in China's first National Assessment Report on
Climate Change, released at the end of last year, few aspects of
development will be immune from the emerging impacts of climate
change in China.
Rising temperatures and melting trends could exacerbate water
security and cause long-term drops in agricultural output. The
changing water flows could threaten the Yangtze and Yellow rivers
which form the basis for much of China's economic growth and social
development.
The impact of temperature change in China will be most marked on
populations in the west. They have the most limited adaptive
capacity, with communities living in areas with agriculture reliant
on rainfall, prone to droughts or floods.
With the impact of climate change already being felt, adaptation
through enhanced resilience is a top priority. Unfortunately, in
most cases adaptation has yet to be given the prominence it merits
in local debates on sustaining development and reducing
poverty.
How to reach the poorest and most vulnerable communities remains
a major concern. The big challenge is the development and
implementation of provincial adaptation strategies and actions.
While national policies have been enacted in recent years to
mitigate and adapt to climate change, much work is needed to
translate these policies into on-the-ground action for results.
The scale of possible future impacts varies both between and
within provinces. If measures are to have real effect in coming
years, an urgent need exists to develop local policies,
partnerships and implementation capacities.
Based on the principles in the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change and strong cooperation with China's National Climate
Change Coordination Office and partners, the UN is working closely
with Chinese institutions to help provide assistance to government,
business and society to integrate Adaptation Policy Frameworks into
local development policies and actions.
The author is UN resident coordinator and UNDP resident
representative in China.
(China Daily March 22, 2007)
