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World Water Development Report 2020: Strengthening Caribbean Water Policy
The weak link between water management and climate change policies across the Caribbean is a point we must address
In view of the ongoing outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic, climate change and its water-related issues don’t halt, on the contrary: they are further exacerbated by the crisis.
On the occasion of World Water Day 2020, UNESCO hosted a virtual Caribbean regional videoconference on March 23 to present its World Water Development Report 2020 (WWDR2020) which offers scientific findings on the interlinkages between water issues and climate change.
UNESCO's Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) participated through its representatives from water agencies and IHP focal points throughout the Caribbean region.
For Caribbean Small Island Developing States which are on the forefront of climate change, as for St. Kitts and Nevis, the launch of the report provides an opportunity to expound on its efforts to galvanise the region, with the support of UNESCO, towards a common Caribbean vision relating to a water policy framework, in the wake of climate change.
"Like many small islands across the globe, encirclement by marine water inevitably leads saltwater intrusion into groundwater resources, which has become a problem of some magnitude. Recent COVID-19 pandemic had added urgency to the issue, from a sanitation perspective,"
St. Kitts & Nevis' Ambassador to UNESCO in Paris, Dr. David P. Doyle.
During the videoconference, Miguel Doria, UNESCO’s IHP Regional Hydrologist for LAC and Massimiliano Lombardo, Programme Specialist in Natural Sciences of UNESCO’s Cluster Office for the Caribbean, highlighted that the Caribbean region has been increasingly affected by the adverse effects of climate change on water resources, such as floods and droughts.
The Water Symposium which was held in St. Kitts and Nevis in October 2020 served for an inter-Caribbean exchange on water issues to further encourage Caribbean states to forge a partnership with UNESCO’s IHP, which is the only intergovernmental programme of the UN system dedicated to water research, water resource management, education and capacity building.
