{"id":9775,"date":"2018-09-25T13:19:27","date_gmt":"2018-09-25T17:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/?p=9775"},"modified":"2019-07-17T16:55:21","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T20:55:21","slug":"global-climate-action-summit-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2018\/09\/25\/global-climate-action-summit-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Water missed the main stage at the Global Climate Action Summit. It should be front and center."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When thousands converged in San Francisco for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalclimateactionsummit.org\/\">Global Climate Action Summit<\/a>\u00a0earlier this month, it was no surprise that the focus centered on reducing emissions.<\/p>\n<p>But as speakers noted at a two-day <a href=\"https:\/\/www.waterpavilion.org\/\">Water Pavilion<\/a>, an affiliate event at the summit, the majority of natural disasters and impacts from climate change are related to water \u2013 either too much of it (think of those in North Carolina suffering from <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2018\/09\/17\/harvey-florence-building-resilience\/\">devastating floods from Hurricane Florence<\/a>), or too little (as we\u2019ve seen in across the Southwest, with multiple states experiencing record-setting years-long droughts). These extremes are also recurring around the globe, from Hong Kong and the Philippines to Cuba and Australia.<\/p>\n<p>Put simply, water is the blade of climate change that will cut most deeply.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, it\u2019s time to elevate water issues at major climate change events, such as this week\u2019s tenth Climate Week NYC and the UN Conference of Parties climate conference in Poland in December.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Water is crucial in our climate change response<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Speaker after speaker at the Water Pavilion offered compelling stats on why water is a crucial component of climate change adaptation and resilience. Among them:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Each degree of global warming is projected to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/pdf\/assessment-report\/ar5\/wg2\/WGIIAR5-Chap3_FINAL.pdf\">decrease renewable water resources<\/a> by at least 20 percent for an additional 7 percent of the world population.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sustainabledevelopment.un.org\/content\/documents\/17825HLPW_Outcome.pdf\">1 billion people<\/a> in the world drink contaminated water.<\/li>\n<li>There is a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oecd.org\/berlin\/47630231.pdf\">7-to-1 benefit-to-cost ratio<\/a> for basic water and sanitation services in developing countries.<\/li>\n<li>Nearly a <a href=\"https:\/\/fas.org\/sgp\/crs\/misc\/R43200.pdf\">fifth of California\u2019s state electricity<\/a> is used for water.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So why isn\u2019t water more central to the climate narrative?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9776\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9776\" style=\"width: 540px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/09\/ed-norton.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-9776\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/09\/ed-norton-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"405\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/09\/ed-norton-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/09\/ed-norton-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/09\/ed-norton-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9776\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ed Norton speaks at the Water Pavilion at the Global Climate Action Summit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The harshest answer to this question came from actor Edward Norton, whose father started The Nature Conservancy\u2019s China program. He called our relationship to water \u201cuniquely apathetic, entitled and grossly negligent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWater has been taken for granted, as abundant and free,\u201d Norton said.<\/p>\n<p>You can live for weeks without food but not even 100 hours without water (some estimate a week), he added. \u201cYet most people think they couldn\u2019t survive without their iPhones for a shorter period of time,\u201d Norton said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Water is an undervalued resource<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The failure to price water appropriately is a symptom of undervaluing this precious resource. Water pricing, therefore, will play an important role in rebalancing our water systems in the West.<\/p>\n<p>For example, it will be key to water trading as California implements the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/ecosystems\/california-groundwater-management-resources\">Sustainable Groundwater Management Act<\/a>. And pricing is an essential ingredient of other innovative approaches to addressing water scarcity, including conservation agreements with tribes and farmers in Colorado and Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>Pricing is also intertwined with environmental justice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know if we don\u2019t price water, it\u2019s the poor and vulnerable that pay five to 50 times more,\u201d said Henk Ovink, the Netherlands\u2019 special envoy for International Water Affairs, noting that\u2019s often because water has to be shipped in by truck.<\/p>\n<p>Inadequate funding and investment in water infrastructure also have been major barriers to building climate resilience, not only in developing countries but also here in California.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/09\/pumping.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9781 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/09\/pumping-1024x744.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"392\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/09\/pumping-1024x744.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/09\/pumping-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/09\/pumping-768x558.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/09\/pumping.png 1090w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The state of California is taking some steps in the right direction, such as the approval of $1.27 billion for water projects in Proposition 68. But while debate swirls over the $17 billion two-tunnel WaterFix project, the state also has underinvested in its natural water infrastructure \u2013 like the watersheds that collect our rain and snow, the rivers that deliver water to our farms and cities, and the vast underground basins that store our groundwater.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, innovation also is particularly challenging in the water sector, which entrepreneur Andrew Benedek of Anaergia said suffers the greatest inertia of any business. Breaking into the market requires long-term, patient, impact-oriented investors and unusually imaginative utilities, he said.<\/p>\n<span class='bctt-click-to-tweet'><span class='bctt-ctt-text'><a href='https:\/\/x.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fblogs.edf.org%2Fgrowingreturns%2F2018%2F09%2F25%2Fglobal-climate-action-summit-water%2F&#038;text=Inadequate%20funding%20and%20investment%20in%20water%20infrastructure%20are%20major%20barriers%20to%20building%20climate%20resilience%20in%20California%20and%20beyond.&#038;via=GrowingReturns&#038;related=GrowingReturns' target='_blank'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Inadequate funding and investment in water infrastructure are major barriers to building climate resilience in California and beyond. <\/a><\/span><a href='https:\/\/x.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fblogs.edf.org%2Fgrowingreturns%2F2018%2F09%2F25%2Fglobal-climate-action-summit-water%2F&#038;text=Inadequate%20funding%20and%20investment%20in%20water%20infrastructure%20are%20major%20barriers%20to%20building%20climate%20resilience%20in%20California%20and%20beyond.&#038;via=GrowingReturns&#038;related=GrowingReturns' target='_blank' class='bctt-ctt-btn'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n<p><strong>How do we elevate water in climate change discussions?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The answers from the Water Pavilion included the need for a unified voice, a new narrative and more water education.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you identify yourself as a united movement?\u201d asked May Boeve, executive director of 350.org. \u201cWater movement\u201d sounds like a dance class she would take in Berkeley, she said, half-jokingly.<\/p>\n<p>Terry Tamminen, CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, called for more eco-literacy. In addition to politics and money, ignorance is other reason water is getting the short shrift, he said.<\/p>\n<p>J. Carl Ganter, co-founder and director of Circle of Blue, advised telling the stories of the real people behind the bullet points. \u201cTell better stories. Tell them now. And tell them with heart and soul,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, many of these components are interconnected. A compelling narrative and united movement can build community involvement and political will, which can help garner more funding to invest in our water infrastructure. As Ganter suggests, the important stories about water are ultimately about people \u2013 farmers, the displaced poor \u2013 who will be cut by the blade of climate change if we don\u2019t step up to the challenge of building more resilient water systems. Our future depends on it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Water is the blade of climate change that will cut most deeply. So why isn&#8217;t water more crucial to the climate narrative? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97371,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71922],"tags":[78155,109593,108118,109757,107183,107089,102771,71925,110010,110271],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-9775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-water","tag-climate-week-nyc","tag-edward-norton","tag-global-climate-action-summit","tag-henk-ovink","tag-international-water-affairs","tag-proposition-68","tag-sgma","tag-sustainable-groundwater-management-act","tag-un-conference-of-parties","tag-water-pavilion"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97371"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9775\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9775"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}