Professor Declan Conway from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science gave a talk on ‘Water Security and Climate Change’ on 10 Feb 2015.
He captures his talk by saying: “I will first summarise the interactions between anthropogenic climate change and water security. The effects of climate change will have far reaching consequences for water resources across all dimensions of water security, particularly through changing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. I then review developments in research on climate change and water resources during the last three decades, tracing a shift of focus from climate impacts to broader management and policy concerns addressing the need for adaptation. During the last decade research effort has grown substantially and developed specific issues in more detail, often involving greater technical complexity. Key themes include: downscaling climate scenarios; attempts to characterize uncertainty; addressing the implications of uncertainty for decision-making; integrated assessments; and case studies coupling understanding of climate change impacts within a broader context of policy, management and decision-making. Reflecting on these themes suggests there has been a tendency to problematise the issue of climate change for water resources management, which has highlighted challenges, rather than identifying responses. I conclude by outlining several directions for future research.”
See also his chapter, ‘Securing Water in a Changing Climate’ in the edited book Water Security: Principles, Perspectives and Practices by Routledge.
