Side event at COP28
DeltasUnite: Urgent Call for Climate Action with a UN convention on Conserving River Deltas (UNCCRD)
Date: Monday December 4th, 2023 at 16:45-18:15 (4:45PM-6:15PM GMT+4)
Venue: SE Room #7, Blue Zone, Dubai UAE
To participate online:
Speakers:
Susan Sgorbati, Co-founder TWIN and Center for the Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College, USA, Freeman Oluowo Centre Coordinator - ACCARD, Focal Person UNCCRD and DeltasUNite Initiative, Prof Asim Zia, Co-founder TWIN, Professor of Public Policy and Computer Science & Director, Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security (IEDS), UVM, Douye Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State, Ambassador. Godknows Iglai, Nigeria (TBC), Joannes Cullman, UN Policy Advisor, Prof. Michael Glantz, Director, University of Colorado Consortium for Capacity Building, Prof. Arukwe Augstine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Aboje Andrews, Environmental Specialist and Consultant with African Development Bank (AfDB), Senator Nisar Memon, Water Environment Forum, Prof Mukhtiar Ahmed Mahar, University of Sindh Jamshoro, Keziah Theresee Gerosano - UN Youth Water, Vivian Madueke Green Environment Fund (GRF), Leslie Durschinger,Founder, CEO, CIO, Climate Finance Terra Global Capital, Dr. Zita Sebesvari, Living Deltas Research Hub , World Bank (TBC), Senator Patrick Joseph Leahy, VT, USA (online)
Concept note:
The growing number of science reports on disappearing coastal & inland deltas in transboundary river basins, e.g., Africa, Indus, Mekong & Rhine, is not only worrisome but disturbing. Climate change induced variability in the distribution of water poses complex human and environmental security challenges in both developed and developing countries. Increasingly evident are changes in seasonal and sub-seasonal weather variability and extremes that resulted in significant losses of productive agricultural lands, ecosystems, and biodiversity – which are means of wellbeing and livelihood for many rural people and local communities. Consequently, this is seriously threatening both social and ecological existence in many ways, including deteriorating food production systems, increasing food shortages, expanding water conflicts and growing populations of climate refugees. Effective, integrative policies are needed to inhibit further climate change, as well as adapt to the climate change otherwise many nations will not be able to have the water resources their populations will need or want.
The growing impact of climate change on water resources will continue to top global discussion – as the main driver and cause of most water-related challenges across the globe leading to human migration especially among young people, to poverty, hunger, and communal conflicts as well as to new disease outbreaks. The foregoing has serious implications for the future peaceful coexistence of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), South Asian and South-East Asian countries with shared transboundary water resources. Sadly, indigenous peoples and local communities especially women, young people, and the elderly – remain the most vulnerable and mostly affected by these impacts. Conservation of inland and ocean facing deltas is critical to offsetting the deadly impacts of worsening climate crises and saving the lives of millions of vulnerable people facing these crises. The displacement of ~33 million people in Indus, and ~ 1 million people in the Niger Delta region as well as livelihood losses is just a little foretaste of what is to come, if necessary immediate, midterm and long-term actions to build climate resilience at the regional and global scale are not implemented.
Here, we focus on two specific water-related concerns: (1) Ocean-facing River deltas confronted by sea level rise and salt water intrusion and (2) Melting glaciers in highlands leading to streamflow variability in lowlands and deltas of river basins.
For example, West Africa’s Niger River Delta Region, like other deltas around the globe, have several reports about its gradual disappearance as a result of morphological changes due to natural processes accentuated by human activities such as deforestation, mangrove destruction, dredging, land development, oil and gas exploitation, agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, the growing evidence of environmental changes, the creeping and sometimes pronounced demographic-related changes in the ecosystems are mostly due to sea level rise, storm surges, coastal erosion, and human-induced ecosystem degradation. These incidences have resulted in loss of lives, livelihoods and ecosystems with dynamic alterations in their characteristics, structure and function. However, this disparaging narrative and phenomenon is not peculiar to one region, but to just about every coastal state around the globe.
In a stable climate, highlanders and lowlanders have their own places: highlanders have their specific high-altitude climate regimes and ecosystems and lowlanders have theirs. Each population has adjusted its human and societal activities within the constraints of temperature, rainfall and other sub-regional climate characteristics. Today, the global to local climates are warming at an accelerated, anthropologically enhanced rate, in large measure because of increased greenhouse gas emissions and tropical deforestation. The underlying causes of those two factors alone result from the pressures on governments and local communities for enhancing economic development prospects and their associated increases in wellbeing as well as for reducing poverty. Warming of the atmosphere will have consequences that will worsen existing societal and environmental problems. Deltas provides the habitats for more than half a billion people and thousands of species, supporting fishery resources, forest products and agriculture, and providing food for billions and livelihoods for millions of people worldwide and will be lost – if nothing is done to address the underlying challenges through partnership, greater UN recognition, and closer attention for deltas to ensure their sustainability.
Why the New UN Convention?
339 million people are living on deltas throughout the world
31 million people living in river deltas are at risk from coastal flooding. These people live in 100-year storm surge floodplains. 92% of these people live in developing or underdeveloped economies.
The 31 million people at risk from coastal flooding makeup 41% of the global population predicted to be at risk from coastal flooding. 25 million of these people live on sediment-starved deltas, where it will be difficult to implement nature-based solutions to mitigate coastal flooding.
The deltas around the world cover a vast total area, much of it too far from Government for Government to provide effective top-down solutions to local peoples’ problems.
In Africa and Asia, many countries still lack access to clean, safe potable water due to poor infrastructure and a lack of investment in the sector, groundwater degradation, pollution, salinization and negative fisheries subsidies as well as flooding. Indigenous peoples and local communities are not only affected but are among the most vulnerable to the growing adverse consequences of climate change on water resources.
At the Conference of Parties (COP28), United Nations will announce a new convention to be called “United Nations Convention on Conserving River Deltas (UNCCRD)”. This conversation started at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh and the Cairo Water Week (Egypt) to build on international alliances to achieve the above objectives followed by an event in New York Water week in March 2023. UNCCRD will provide a structure, status, and UN high-level recognition of their place-based peculiarities and challenges. In this regard, we are seeking to achieve the recognition of the ecological, environmental, socio-economic and cultural sustainability of deltas and their communities. The UNCCRD will also bring about integrative Highlands to Oceans (H2O) climate action for building resilient communities.
The objective of this Convention is to improve the integrated management of river deltas for sustainability and to mitigate the effects of climate change, particularly for the most vulnerable populations in delta regions through effective action at all levels. The UNCCRD will highlight the urgent need for multilevel and multifaceted cooperative action, among indigenous peoples, local communities and civil society, including young professionals. Youth and children also have roles to play, from learning and awareness raising to address and respond to climate change impacts.
