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Presentation to WSLG 17 November 2011 Jessica Wilson, Environmental Monitoring Group

Learning from current mitigation and adaptation strategies, models and practices for Climate Change with special focus on water. Presentation to WSLG 17 November 2011 Jessica Wilson, Environmental Monitoring Group. EMG’s work on water and climate change.

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Presentation to WSLG 17 November 2011 Jessica Wilson, Environmental Monitoring Group

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  1. Learning from current mitigation and adaptation strategies, models and practices for Climate Change with special focus on water Presentation to WSLG 17 November 2011 Jessica Wilson, Environmental Monitoring Group

  2. EMG’s work on water and climate change • EMG established as non-profit NGO in 1991 • member of SA water caucus and various environmental justice & climate change networks • Working on water-climate change links for past 4 years, mainly wrt to urban water services, including: • Household water conservation, awareness, leak fixing, etc. • Action research with poorly- water-serviced communities • Municipal responses to southern Cape drought • Social justice angles of WDM, tariffs and budgets Work documented in new book: water and climate change: an exploration for the concerned and curious www.emg.org.za

  3. Civil society active on water and cc • Water focused include • National & provincial water caucuses (NGO&CBO networks) • Umphilo waManzi: action research and community based adaptation in KZN; Mvula Trust: water and sanitation provision, including climate friendly alternatives: TCOE: rural livelihoods, including rights to water and land • CC links: rainwater harvesting, water services, catchment management, waste-water treatment, food-growing, jobs etc. • Climate & energy focused include • CJN! SACAN, groundWork, ELA, million jobs campaign, etc. • There will be coordinated CSO presence at COP17, at the C17 People’s Space (UKZN), including a seminar on water and cc on 1st December www.emg.org.za

  4. Missing from the debate • Mitigation within the water sector • Building social and institutional responsiveness (rethinking governance) • Human-scale resilience and livelihood centred approaches  need to make sure proposed solutions don’t contribute to climate change or make people more vulnerable www.emg.org.za

  5. Mitigation within the water sector • Electric pumps only option for small-scale farmers getting support from DoA in southern Cape. Why not solar or wind pumps? • Biogas digesters to extract methane from household waste and sewage, currently mothballed at many waste-water treatment plants • Alternative waste-water treatment technologies, e.g. integrated advanced ponding • These are tried and tested technologies that work, are easy to maintain and need support and rolling out www.emg.org.za

  6. Building social and institutional responsiveness (rethinking governance) • We’re not adapting to a fixed (or uniform) scenario so key is ability to respond • This means strong elements of trust, respect, communication within institutions and between state and citizen • Example: addressing water management device failures in Witsand, Cape Town • Systems that function, e.g. call centres, participatory processes for IDPs and budgets, local disaster /risk management strategies, intergovernmental cooperation www.emg.org.za

  7. Human-scale resilience and livelihood centred approaches • Human-scale interventions are critical and could be more effective than large-scale projects, e.g. rainwater harvesting at household or small-farm scale • For whom are we securing water? • Resilience based on relationships, e.g. will your neighbour share her water with you in times of scarcity? • Systems of governance & distribution, allocation, tariffs, rationing – ensuring they meet people’s needs and don’t continue to subsidise an unsustainable economy www.emg.org.za

  8. Learning from false or partial solutions • Confusing resource scarcity with financial scarcity exacerbates social scarcity • Guard against WDM that targets and penalises poorer households (and exacerbates social inequality and injustice) • Desalination needs careful consideration because of high energy and financial costs • A cc response that relies heavily on DWA business-as-usual is not enough! www.emg.org.za

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