Climate change and water

Observational records and climate projections provide abundant evidence that freshwater resources are vulnerable and have the potential to be strongly impacted by climate change, with wide-ranging consequences for human societies and ecosystems. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Technical Paper Climate Change and Water draws together and evaluates the information in IPCC assessment and special reports concerning the impacts of climate change on hydrological processes and regimes, and on freshwater resources – their availability, quality, use and management. It takes into account current and projected regional key vulnerabilities, prospects for adaptation, and the relationships between climate change mitigation and water. Its objectives are: to improve understanding of the links between both natural and anthropogenically induced climate change, its impacts, and adaptation and mitigation response options, on the one hand, and water-related issues, on the other, and to communicate this improved understanding to policymakers and stakeholders. Text in the Technical Paper carefully follows the text of the underlying IPCC Reports, especially the fourth assessment. It reflects the balance and objectivity of those reports and, where the text differs, this is with the purpose of supporting and/or explaining further the conclusions of those reports. Every substantive paragraph is sourced back to an IPCC report. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up jointly by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme to provide an authoritative international assessment of scientific information on climate change. Climate Change and Water is one of six Technical Papers prepared by the IPCC to date. It was prepared in response to a request from the World Climate Programme – Water and the International Steering Committee of the Dialogue on Water and Climate.

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