Portal:Water/Water and climate change

"The global importance of water issues cannot be overstated," says Zafar Adeel, Chair of UN-Water. "Virtually all climate change impacts are expressed through water in one form or another, including more severe storms and extreme floods, and rapidly disappearing glaciers, often called 'Earth's water towers'."

"Countries need to adapt to climate change jointly without delay!" This is the main message of the Guidance on Water and Adaptation to Climate Change, developed at the the Meeting of the Parties to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Water Convention at their fifth meeting (Geneva, 10–12 November 2009). The complete Guidance can be found here. The UNECE Water Convention addresses the management of water resources that cross national boundaries. More details are available on the Guidance on Water and Adaptation to Climate Change page or the UNECE website.

According to a June 2008 technical paper for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, there is "very high confidence" that "adverse effects of climate change on freshwater systems [will] aggravate the impacts of other stresses, such as population growth, changing economic activity, land-use change and urbanisation."