ESCWA Water Development Report 7: Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction in the Arab Region

This seventh issue of the ESCWA Water Development Report focuses on climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) within the context of scarcity in the water sector in the Arab region as a whole. A number of global frameworks and strategies have called for an integrated approach to DRR and CCA, since the World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe in 2005, and the thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bali in 2007. The issue gained greater prominence in 2015, as this was a landmark year for the international community, with the adoption of three main and interrelated agendas, namely the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030) and the Paris Agreement on climate change. While the Sendai Framework includes ambitious targets, and aims to secure the commitment of countries to DRR strategies, the Paris Agreement calls for addressing “loss and damage” in cases where impacts are beyond the limits of adaptation. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) addressing all aspects of development, including the management of natural resources, the challenges of climate change and the impacts of natural hazards.