Water as Leverage- Setting the scene for a call for action

Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities Asia
Setting the Scene for a Call for Action
Content
1.1
Since water connects
all crises it is both
the problem and the
solution …
Water represents our world’s
most challenging and complex
risk. Floods and droughts,
pollution and geopolitical water
conflicts combined with rapid
urbanization result in a growing
demand for food and energy,
which leads to more migration
and the aggravation of climate
change. Water connects all
of these crises and intensifies
their impact, with cascading
effects.
A river shed is a coherent
system that can stretch over
thousands of kilometers, where
the smallest flows upstream
impact the large deltas and
outlets near the coast. Along
the river towards the sea,
different sets of problems
occur; from landslides,
droughts, flash floods and
extreme wet bulb temperatures
upstream to land subsidence,
salinization, typhoons and tidal
floods downstream. In addition,
water pollution is a recurring
issue that affects the whole
river system.
A better understanding of the
challenges and the complexity
of water’s dynamic relationship
with economic, social and
environmental risks allows
for better, integrated and
sus tainable interventions.
A sustainable approach is
an integrated approach.
With the Agenda 2030, the
United Nations established
a comprehensive program
of 17 interlinked Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs)
that represent the necessary
ambitions and promises the
world must fulfil to shift towards
a long-term resilient path.
Water itself is one of these
SDGs, yet it also plays a role
in almost every other SDG.
Water cannot be seen as one
risk factor that merely amplifies
others; on the contrary,
because water is linked to all
other challenges, it has the
unique capacity of being a
crucial part of the solution in
reaching our goals. Water can
therefore function as leverage
ACCESS & SANITATION
Since water-related issues affect
the world’s most challenging
goals, tackling these issues offers
an opportunity to develop more
sustainable and resilient solutions
at multiple scale and fronts
simulteanously.
for impactful and catalytic
change and can help turn risks
into rewards.
PEACE
NO POVERTY
ZERO HUNGER
ECONOMIC GROWTH
EQUALITY & INCLUSIVITY
GOOD HEALTH & WELL-BEING
AFFORDABLE & CLEAN ENERGY
SUSTAINABLE CITIES & COMMUNITIES
BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE & INDUSTRY
EXTREME TEMPERATURES
LAND SUBSIDENCE
WATER POLLUTION
SEA LEVEL RISE
SALINIZATION
LANDSLIDES
DROUGHTS
TYPHOONS
FLOODS
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Global Water Issues
PART 1 / From Global Water Issues to a Call for Action
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