Climate change requires that institutions develop more flexibility in their resource management and in their governance relationships with other institutions. Realizing this goal, however, is not an easy task. Sustainably managing water resources for a shifting climate is a difficult process for organizations, sectors, and individuals. Just a few of the obstacles inhibiting the implementation of adaptation actions involve obtaining enough science and data to guide good decisions, learning, financing new approaches, and developing appropriate methods to govern and integrate complex institutions in new ways. This session is intended to demonstrate how diverse types of organizations can evolve new models of climate-informed sustainable water resource management by creating mechanisms that can enable effective long-term responses to a changing climate. Through the session, we seek to identify what types of obstacles are commonly presented to institutions in the process of engaging in adaptation action, how best to respond to those obstacles, and a set of case studies and institutional examples for evidence of adaptation achieved.

Programme

Chairs: Dr. Mark Smith, IUCN, Dr. John H. Matthews, CI, Dr. Tracey Farrell, CI, and Eliot Levine, WWF