COP26: World Leaders Form Water And Climate Coalition To Address A Looming Crisis

The water and climate coalition, led by the presidents of Tajikistan and Hungary, aims to implement reforms needed in the global management of water resources.

Representational image of an area submerged due to floods | Photo: Getty

New Delhi: World leaders meeting at the ongoing COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, formed a water and climate coalition on Tuesday to address the crisis of both water scarcity and water-related hazards due to rising temperatures.

The water and climate coalition, led by the presidents of Tajikistan and Hungary, aims to implement reforms needed in the global management of water resources, according to the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO). 

The leaders Tuesday issued a call for urgent and integrated action to replace the existing “fragmented and crisis-driven approach”, the WMO statement said.

The Water And Climate Coalition

WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas and UN-Water Chair Gilbert Houngbo invited water and climate leaders to set and pursue an integrated global water and climate agenda.

The leaders formed the Water and Climate Coalition on Tuesday with the aim to facilitate sustainable development and national mitigation and adaptation actions.

The Water and Climate Coalition will create the space to raise awareness about global water and climate issues using an integrated approach, and will bring water and climate leaders together.

It will facilitate implementation of actions necessary to ensure water-climate management for effective adaptation and resilience, and will help achieve Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 13, according to the WMO.

The Water and Climate Coalition leaders will attend a conference at COP26 on Wednesday, titled: "Committing to an Integrated Global Water and Climate Agenda". 

Quoting Clare Nullis, WMO spokesperson, media reports said water and climate must be tackled together because water is like a canary in the coal mine of climate.

Tajikistan has proposed proclaiming 2025 as the International Year for Glacier Preservation.

At the coalition launch, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon said he would set up a fund for glacier preservation. 

He said the volume of glaciers, which make up 60 per cent of water resources for Central Asia, has decreased by a third, and 1000 glaciers have completely melted.

The WMO said glacier melt increases the risk of water-related hazards such as landslides and avalanches for high-mountain regions such as central Asia, the Himalayas and the Andes. “In the longer-term it means a water security crisis for many millions of people and vast ecosystems,” it said.