A high-level Roundtable on Climate Change and Water Security was held in Beijing on April 8 to address the critical issue of how to ensure water security in the face of climate change. Multiple stakeholder groups were represented by the 112 participants. The meeting was jointly organized by GWP China and the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency.
GWP Estonia participated in a roundtable discussion at the Ministry of Environment about damming and on April 17 hydropower use of Estonian rivers.
Melting glaciers and mining operations are just two of the challenges facing the Ocoña River Basin. GWP Peru and partner, the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP), have worked unremittingly since 2003 to put the foundations for IWRM in place in the basin.
Dedication to consultation and communication paid off in 2010 as policy makers established and consolidated a relationship with researchers in the Challenge Programme on Water and Food (CPWF) in the Limpopo River Basin.
The Panama Canal, the 77 km long canal joining the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans is a key conduit for international maritime trade. In light of the decision to widen the canal, improvements in how the canal basin is managed has taken on increasing importance.
In September, the Coca Cola Foundation approved funding for the GWP Mediterranean project on ‘Rainwater Harvesting in the Cyclades Islands’. The project aims to contribute to local water security through a pilot installation of more than 10 rainwater harvesting systems in public buildings, training of technicians, and educational activities for local schools.
At a GWP Myanmar-organized dialogue on 19-20 August 2010 participants concluded that government institutions responsible for water must provide national legislation and policies to foster an integrated approach to managing the country’s water resources. The dialogue, “Formulation of Coordination Mechanism to Engage Institutional Reforms to Foster IWRM among Government Institutions,” was a follow-up to last year’s dialogue. Capacity building training workshops on IWRM were also organized by GWP Myanmar in September.
Located in the Baltic Sea Basin, water quality management is one of the Poland's key issues, creating problems for people’s livelihoods and the environment. Due to year-to-year variability in its water resources, devastating floods and local water scarcities are frequent.
Abundant freshwater resources caracterise Cameroon, yet the country faces severe water challenges as a result of management, legal and institutional deficiencies. Due to the fragmented water sector, development in Cameroon goes slowly. To increase the sustainability of water resources management, Cameroon has embarked on a process towards developing integrated water resources management plans.
As part of its response to last year’s devastating floods in the country, GWP Pakistan organised on 12 January 2011 a one-day seminar on water security in the face of climate change, with the support of the government’s Planning Commission and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).