Introduction
How do we increase resilience to climate events, giving priority to the needs of vulnerable people, and their access to clean and safe water, hygiene and toilets?
Resilience to climate disasters can be supported by strengthening the policies that are described by the human rights to water and sanitation. The Human Right 2 Water Expert Committee, chaired by Michel Jarraud, has developed a Declaration based on a study in 25 countries, to encourage governments to protect, respect and fulfil these rights, event in an emergency. This is supported by the President of Human Right 2 Water, Dhesigen Naidoo, Climate Commissioner for South Africa.
Top experts in climate change, water and human rights meet to discuss government preparedness to protect rights to water and maintenance of essential water services after climate events, especially for marginalised people.
Experts from the World Meteorological Organisation, The Green Climate Fund, the Organisation of American States, The United Nations Framework Commission on Climate Change, and The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, share the work that they are each doing to support the principles of the Declaration.
Panellists
Michel Jarraud
Emeritus Secretary General WMO
Chair of HR2W Expert Committee
Biography
Mr Jarraud was appointed as Secretary General of the World Meteorological Congress from 2004 until 2016. In 2012 he also assumed the Chair of UN-Water, the inter-agency mechanism that coordinates and strengthens the work of United Nations organizations and programmes on all issues relating to fresh water. Initially qualified as a scientist and a meteorologist, and before joining the WMO Secretariat as Deputy Secretary-General in January 1995, Mr Jarraud served many years in the internationally renowned European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and with the French National Meteorological Service, Météo-France.
David R. Boyd
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment
Biography
David R. Boyd was appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment for a three-year term commencing August 1, 2018. He is an associate professor of law, policy, and sustainability at the University of British Columbia.
Mr. Boyd has a PhD in Resource Management and Environmental Studies from UBC, a law degree from the University of Toronto, and a business degree from the University of Alberta. His career has included serving as the executive director of Ecojustice, appearing before the Supreme Court of Canada, and working as a special advisor on sustainability for Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. He has advised many governments on environmental, constitutional, and human rights policy and co-chaired Vancouver’s effort to become the world’s greenest city by 2020. He is a member of the World Commission on Environmental Law, an expert advisor for the UN’s Harmony with Nature Initiative, and a member of ELAW, the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide.
Dhesigen Naidoo
Climate Commissioner, South Africa
Biography
Dhesigen Naidoo is a Climate Commissioner in the Presidential Climate Change Coordinating Commission in South Africa, a Research Associate at ISS, and previous CEO of the Water Research Commission. WRC is South Africa’s only dedicated Water research steering and funding institution. He also served as an official in South African government between 1996 and 2007. In this period, he worked for inter alia the Ministries of Water Affairs & Forestry, Environmental Affairs & Tourism, and Science & Technology where he served as Deputy Director-General for International Cooperation and Resources. Between 1990 and 1996 he was a medical natural scientist at the University of Cape Town and Red Cross Children’s Hospital.
Dr Ania Grobicki
Deputy Director of External Affairs at the Green Climate Fund
Biography
Dr Ania Grobicki is currently Deputy Director of External Affairs at the Green Climate Fund. She is a South African chemical engineer who worked for a major oil company, and then completed a PhD in biochemical engineering at Imperial College London. She worked in academia and managed a consulting firm, on water, environment and development issues, before becoming the coordinator of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food, an international agricultural research initiative.
Subsequently, for six years she headed the Global Water Partnership (a worldwide network of water organizations) as its Executive Secretary, based in Sweden, and then served as the Deputy Secretary General and Acting Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Ania has written a number of publications on water and development-related issues, most recently as Coordinating Lead Author for the freshwater chapters of the 6th Global Environmental Outlook. Concerned by the major changes occurring in both global and local water cycles, for the last 10 years she has focused on water and climate risks to society, including water-related disasters, prior to joining GCF in 2019.
Andres Sanchez
Manager (Specialist), Water Program at Organización de los Estados Americanos
Biography
Andrés is an Environmental Economist from the Universidad de los Andes (Colombia). He is a specialist in Integrated Management of Water Resources (IWRM) with a Master of Science in Environmental Science and Environmental Policy from Johns Hopkins University. He has 15+ years in the management of shared ecosystems/waters projects in the Americas and the Caribbean. Andrés serves as specialist in the Department of Sustainable Development (DSD) of the Organization of American States (OAS), in charge of the water program of his organization, focusing in the management of the of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Projects Portfolio in International Waters projects portfolio that OAS executes in the Americas region. He has published peer-reviewed publications and articles in the field of water management, including subtopics such as water diplomacy, climate and hydraulic fracturing among others.
Johannes Cullmann
Director of Water and Climate Department, World Meteorological Organization
Biography
Mr Cullmann joined the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 2015 as the Director of the Climate and Water Department. From 1 January 2020, he is the Director for Water and Cryosphere. Mr Cullmann was Director of the IHP/HWRP division (science and international cooperation) of the German Federal Institute of Hydrology from 2007 to 2015. He was involved in formulating the Institute’s research strategy, delivering the first climate change impact analysis of German water-ways and took part in harmonising data for assessing hydrological futures for the Rhine river basin. He helped coordinating international water affairs within the German government and with international partners. From 2012 to 2014, he was President of the Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO’s water programme. In this function he has been negotiating implementation plans for UNESCO with Governments and other UN Agencies. Mr Cullmann was the German representative in the Commission for the Hydrology of the Rhine River, one of the important features of European transboundary water cooperation.
Rojina Manandhar
Programme Officer, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Biography
ojina Manandhar leads the Nairobi work programme-UNFCCC adaptation-to-knowledge action hub for adaptation and resilience at the UNFCCC secretariat. She is passionate about understanding barriers faced by policy makers and practitioners in countries that hinder them to scale up adaptation. Her work is about understanding these barriers and co-designing solutions to build the resilience of countries through partnerships with governments, experts and broader communities of practice.
In her day-to-day job, she gets inspiration by working with experts, national policy makers and young professionals. Over the past 15 years, she has worked on the scientific, technical, and policy aspects of impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation to climate change, on thematic topics of water resources, oceans and coastal areas, biodiversity, human settlements, health, mountain ecosystems and ecosystem-based adaptation and science-policy-practice interface in a global context as well as in South Asia, North America, and Europe. She also represents the UNFCCC secretariat in UN-Water, FAO’s Global Framework on Water Scarcity on Agriculture (WASAG), and WHO-IUCN Expert Working Group on Biodiversity, Climate Change, One Health and Nature-based Solutions.
Amanda Loeffen
Chief Executive Officer, Human Right 2 Water
Biography
Amanda is CEO of Human Right 2 Water and an experienced general manager and business development executive in water, energy, and sustainable development with international experience in Australasia, Europe, and North America. Her goal is to provide sustainable solutions based on human rights to improve water governance worldwide. Previously as Director General of WaterLex, she led a team of water governance experts to encourage law and policy reform. Current research projects include a global study on Resilience to Climate Emergencies, and the development of Human Rights Indicators. She leads the UNECE People-First PPP Stakeholder Engagement subgroup to realise benchmarks for developing human rights-based approaches, and she is currently on the steering committee of AGUASAN. Previously, as CEO of a project management company in New Zealand, Amanda delivered environmental resource consent with stakeholder engagement for a community water infrastructure scheme for irrigation and hydro-generation.
Dr Tarek Sadek
UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
Biography
Mr. Sadek has 25 years of experience in the field of climate change, environmental engineering, water resources management and planning, hydrogeology, water quality and environmental aspects. He has more than 20 official publications in books, international journals and conferences in the field of water resources and environmental management. He holds a Doctorate in Environmental Engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia in 1998. He completed his Masters in Hydrology from the University College Galway (UCG), Galway, Republic of Ireland, in 1992 and B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Cairo University in 1988. From 1999 to 2006, he was the Director of National Water Resources Plan (NWRP) project – Planning Sector, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI), Egypt
