Workshop on water and adaptation to climate change in transboundary basins

The workshop will take place on 10 and 11 May 2010 in the Palais des Nations, Geneva, back-to-back with the third meeting of the Task Force on Water and Climate (12 May 2010). It will bring together countries and main international actors engaged in activities on water and adaptation to climate change, in particular in transboundary basins, with the aim to:

-Exchange practical experience and share lessons-learned on the technical and strategic aspects of adapting to climate change;
-Analyse the specific challenges of adapting water management to climate change in the transboundary context;
-Show how transboundary cooperation can be established in the different steps of developing an adaptation strategy: from the assessments of impacts and vulnerability to the selection of measures;
-Support countries engaged in the process of preparing national or regional adaptation strategies;
-Promote the implementation of the UNECE Guidance on Water and Adaptation to Climate Change.

In particular, the workshop aims to assist governments implementing pilot projects on adaptation to climate change under the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) in planning and implementing the objectives, steps and activities of the projects.

The workshop will also discuss how to ensure a continuous exchange of experience on adaptation to climate change in transboundary basins through a pan-European platform under the Water Convention.

The workshop is addressed to all those who are responsible for, or involved in the process of developing an adaptation strategy and addressing climate change impacts on water resources, at the national and transboundary level: first and foremost governmental representatives, but also water and health managers, local authorities, and representatives of academia, research institutes and non-governmental organizations.