During the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in France, there will also be an international conference on water, megacities and climate change, organised by UNESCO and ARCEAU1 ÃŽle-de-France, running from 1-4 December at UNESCO Headquarters.
More than 50% of the world’s population currently lives in cities and megacities, which are urban settlements that have in excess of 10 million residents. These settlements are growing faster than infrastructure to accommodate all of these inhabitants can be built, and this is a problem.
Demographics are not the only problem though; climate change is also a major headache and will require major adaptations.
The new megacities are especially vulnerable to water-related risks due to various factors, including the concentration of population, goods and services. Climate change further amplifies the risks of pollution of water sources, large-scale flooding, water shortages etc.
These cities host a multitude of resources, including scientific human and technical resources, to meet the challenges.
The international conference “Water, Megacities and Global Change†will seek to provide a forum where exchanges regarding these issues can be discussed between representatives of megacities from around the globe.
Experts will also present results of international research on this topic. Case studies from 12 megacities; Mumbai, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Istanbul, Lagos, London, Manila, Mexico, New York, Paris, Beijing, Sao Paulo, Tokyo and discussions around the research will be held between the experts and global representatives.
The conference will culminate in a public statement calling for the creation of a shared platform via which both water management and climate change adaptation projects could be developed in megacities.
This international research and collaboration is exactly what is called for in the face of what we are all facing regarding water shortages in the years to come. This year has been the hottest ever recorded and it is expected that next year will be even hotter, so we wish all of the participants well and hope and trust that they will come up with some good ideas for the future that will help us all to cope.
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