Story overview

The Middle-East has specific water-energy-food challenges. Most Middle East countries are water scarce but have abundant fossil fuel reserves (e.g. Gulf Cooperation Council countries) and solar energy potential. Moreover, energy prices are often subsidized while the region has the world’s lowest water tariffs and the highest GDP spent on public water services (World Bank, 2017).

Floods and drought are some of the most tangible and devastating consequences of climate change. Deltares and The World Bank organised a session during the Stockholm International Water Week titled 'Managing Floods and Drought: The Governance Challenges'. The session aimed at presenting a new framework, referred to as the EPIC Response, for the combined management of floods and drought.

Climate change is expected to have major consequences for the availability and quality of water, and lead to more intense and frequent natural disasters. The impact on people with little capacity to adapt will be disastrous. The CAS side-event ‘For people’s sake’ showed that inclusiveness is essential in climate change adaptation investments to establishing a more equal society. The importance of social inclusion is increasingly acknowledged, but making the concept tangible in the field is considered challenging.

There are no fewer than 54 cities worldwide with a high risk of drought. Our solution? Knowledge about water systems and good governance. Read more about this in this blog by groundwater expert Dimmie Hendriks.

Real-time flood forecasting is one of the most effective flood risk management measures. Indeed, many governments operate bespoke hydrological forecasting services that continuously monitor and forecast coastal and fluvial water levels.