INBO - Newsletter

March 2018 - n° 26 Newsletter G l o b a l A l l i a n c e s f o r W a t e r a n d C l i m a t e G A f W a C B a s i n s B u s i n e s s M e g a c i t i e s D e s a l i n a t i o n World Forum - Daegu - April 2015 World Forum - Marseilles - March 2012 World Forum - Istanbul - March 2009 Water and Climate Summit - Rome - October 2017 From talk to action: we must act quickly before it is too late! COP23 - Bonn - November 2017 The findings are alarming: Floods, droughts, cyclones, scarcity, waterborne diseases, pollution, wastage, erosion, destruction of ecosystems: the seriousness of the situation in many countries requires the quick implementation of comprehensive, integrated and consistent water resources management. Climate change is exacerbating these situations and is affecting more and more the quan- tity and quality of inland freshwater and aquatic ecosystems. The regime of all our rivers and the level of our aquifers will be substantially modified! All this represents a threat to security, economic and social development and the environ- ment, especially in the poorest countries. Mobilization is essential at all levels to urgently set up programs that are needed to mitigate pressures and prevent and adapt to the effects of global warming. Quick action would reduce costs and damage, we should worry about the “cost of inaction”! Freshwater is one of the first victims of climate change: we must act quickly, before it is too late. The experience gained in more than fifty years shows that it is undeniably at the level of the basins of rivers, lakes and aquifers, whether local, national or transboundary, that essential actions, based on real upstream / downstream solidarity, should be carried out or reinforced. In addition, nothing is possible without the participation, beside political authorities, of representatives of different economic sectors, local authorities and associations, all of whom are working in the field and are the real stakeholders of change. This is especially the role of “Basin Committees or Councils”. We must not “reinvent the wheel” because many effective actions are already carried out in the field. It is therefore necessary to identify good practices and disseminate them. The problems encountered are not technical, but mainly institutional and financial. We must get mobilized to win this water battle and prepare the future of next generations. Everything is still possible. Let’s act quickly! www.inbo-news.org