During a speech delivered in Tokyo, Japan on the 18th February, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, raised warnings about increased flood risks in the years to come. Bringing together specialists and scientists from across the world around the theme of integrated management of the post-Covid water cycle, the event aimed to highlight the need for international collective action centered around innovation and resilience. This event aligns with the United Nations’ desire to meet the established Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG6, which aims to guarantee access to clean water for all and sustainable management of water resources, ahead of the United Nations Water Decade Conference from 22th -24th March in New York. Read more about the speech
Climate change is accelerating flood risks by increasing the frequency of extreme rainfall events. If global warming exceeds 2°C in the years to come, 177 million people on average could be exposed to flooding by 2050, according to the latest IPCC prediction. According to this scenario, the number of global areas affected by sea level rise would increase by 15%. The world’s natural heritage would thus become strongly threatened by these conditions.
On a human level, the implications are profound. In 2021, the victims affected by natural disasters amounted to 10% worldwide and floods were the main cause ahead of disasters such as earthquakes and storms. According to the President of the UN General Assembly, today, nearly 2 billion people are threatened by the risk of flooding. In 2021, these risks represented a total cost of 82 billion dollars of damage worldwide, which is unequally covered across different regions due to unequal disaster response capacities and different means allocated.
Affected by the risk of flooding and climate variations, citizens have created innovative projects around the world to ensure the preservation of wetlands, essential for local communities and biodiversity.
Established in 2017, the Hydrology Life project aims to restore the hydrological integrity of wetland habitats in Finland. By restoring these spaces, the team in charge of the project prevents the risk of flooding and improves the quality of the habitats for many living species. Theproject’s ambition is to monitor and measure, in the long term, the impacts of the actions implemented in order to restore natural ecosystems through hydrological measurements and peat analyses.
Initiated by a group of locals in Zimbabwe in 2001, the Monavale project aims to restore the wetlands of the Harare region, which are highly threatened by agriculture. Providing water purification functions, these areas are considerably important to local communities. One of the ambitions of the project is to raise public awareness of the need to protect these areas.
Launched in the United States in 2021, the “Advocacy and Water Protection in Native California” program aims to raise awareness of the importance of preserving marine ecosystems. Sharing the knowledge of indigenous communities through its awareness-raising actions, the Save California Salmon organization combines theoretical education and practical learning through training sessions and lessons delivered. Engaging communities, their actions truly influence local policies.
In a responsible water use logic, the WaterWise Ways project was launched in 2018 with the aim of achieving significant water savings in a South African region where water is a scarce resource. Combining action and awareness, the initiative has saved more than 154,000 cubic meters of water between 2018 and 2020 in 1,593 households.
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