Celebration at FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy, 23 March 2020
The science is clear: the global climate change crisis is altering the water cycle. This will make water availability less predictable, affecting water quality, worsening water scarcity and threatening sustainable development.
Today an estimated 3.6 billion people worldwide live in areas that are potentially water scarce at least one month per year. It is projected to reach between 4.8 and 5.7 billion people by 2050, creating a huge competition among water users and across political boundaries.
Limiting global warming to 1.5°Celsius above pre-industrial levels, compared to 2°Celsius, can have huge implications on water resources, as it may reduce the proportion of the world’s population exposed to an increase in water stress.
Water can be part of the solution: improved water management in agriculture, which is responsible for around 70% of all water withdrawals, is an essential component of successful climate mitigation and adaptation strategies to achieve local and global food security, especially in regions where basic food production and hunger are significant concerns.
FAO, in collaboration with The Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture (WASAG), the Governments of Spain and Switzerland, is celebrating the World Water Day (WWD) 2020 “Water and climate change” with a full day event that will be held on 23 March 2020 in the FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy.
Objectives of the event
- Raise awareness and discuss how climate change is affecting water management in agriculture.
- Demonstrate how improved water management in agriculture is a key element of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies to address food security.
- Showcase and share experience and knowledge on the use of nonconventional waters to supply agriculture in the context of climate change.
- Present the UN World Water Development Report 2020 “Water and Climate Change”, the UN-Water flagship report on water.
- Highlight the importance of partnerships such as WASAG to cope with water scarcity in agriculture.
The event will be held in English, French and Spanish and it will be webcasted.
An exhibition at the FAO Headquarters will take place from 23 to 27 March 2020. It will focus on the theme of the WWD “Water and climate change”, to present in a visual and creative way the effects of climate change on the management of water in agriculture, and the concrete responses that FAO is implementing in collaboration with the WASAG Partners.
Provisional agenda, Monday 23 March 2020
09:30 – 10:35
High Level Opening Ceremony | Sheikh Zayed Centre
Master of ceremony: Ms Sasha Koo Oshima, Deputy Director, Land and Water Division, FAO
Video message, Mr Qu Dongyu, Director-General, FAO
Welcoming address, Ms Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General, Climate and Natural Resources, FAO
Video message, H.E. Luis Planas Puchades, Minister, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain
Opening address, H.E. Vincenza Lomonaco, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Italy to FAO
Opening address, H.E. Papa Abdoulaye Seck, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Senegal to FAO (TBC)
Opening address, Ms Isabel Bombal Díaz, General Director of Rural Development, Innovation and Agrifood Training, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain
Opening address, Mr Mikko Ollikainen, Manager, Adaptation Fund (TBC)
Message from the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (Holy See), Monseigneur Fernando Chica Arellano, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to FAO
10:35 – 10:40
Video, World Water Day 2020 "Water and climate change" | Sheikh Zayed Centre
10:40 – 10:55
Presentation of the World Water Development Report 2020 | Sheikh Zayed Centre
Keynote Speaker, Ms Michela Miletto, Deputy Coordinator, UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme
10:55 – 11:50
Water and Climate change | Sheikh Zayed Centre
Moderator and introductory remarks: Mr Eduardo Mansur, Director, Land and Water Division, FAO
Panel:
- Mr Torkil Jønch Clausen, WASAG Chair
- Ms Oyun Sanjaasuren, Director of External Affairs, Green Climate Fund
- Mr Mohamed Ait Kadi, President, General Council of Agricultural Development, Kingdom of Morocco
- Mr Tebaldo Vinciguerra, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Holy See
Panel discussion with questions from the audience
11:50 – 12:00
Atrium Exhibition opening | Sheikh Zayed Centre
12:00 – 13:45
Lunch break
13:45 – 15:30
Nonconventional waters to supply agriculture in a changing climate: experiences from Spain | Sheikh Zayed Centre
Moderator: Ms Sasha Koo Oshima, Deputy Director, Land and Water Division, FAO
Video, Use of nonconventional waters
Panel:
- Ms Isabel Bombal Díaz, General Director for Rural Development, Innovation and Agrifood Training, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain
- Mr Mariano Soto García, General Secretary, “Campo de Cartagena” Irrigators Community
- Ms Ana Allende Prieto, Senior Researcher, Spanish National Research Council (CEBAS-CSIC)
- Mr Juan Valero de Palma. General Secretary of FENACORE
Panel discussion with questions from the audience
15:30 – 15:45
Coffee Break
15:45 – 16:45
Climate Change Adaptation & Mitigation | Sheikh Zayed Centre
Moderator: Mr Marlos Da Souza, Senior Officer, Land and Water Division, FAO
Panel:
- Ms Nhilce N. Esquivel, Disaster Risk Reduction Team Coordinator, Water Youth Network
- Ms Rojina Manandhar, Programme Officer, Adaptation Programme, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) (TBC)
- Ms Laura Sommer, Deputy Head of Unit, Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research EAER, Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG
Publication launch: Accounting for livestock water productivity: How and why?
Panel discussion with questions from the audience
16:45 – 17:00
Closing Ceremony | Sheikh Zayed Centre
H.E. Alfonso María Dastis Quecedo, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Spain to FAO
Mr René Castro-Salazar, Assistant Director-General, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water Department, FAO
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