Risks to water security are the greatest threat to attaining global sustainability goals. Many countries lack water infrastructure - including storage - to be able to provide water when and where it is needed. Natural disasters are occurring with alarming frequency. Climate change is disrupting global weather patterns, triggering increasingly extreme weather events including floods, droughts, and heatwaves, exacerbating water scarcity and causing catastrophic suffering from Pakistan to the United States to Kenya. Global heating of between two to four degrees Celsius could cause up to four billion people to experience some level of water scarcity. Historically, water storage systems have enabled humans to thrive in a range of climatic conditions. Given climate change, many water storage
systems are becoming-or in some regions have already become-no longer fit for purpose.
This event will serve as an urgent appeal to practitioners at every level, both public and private, and across sectors, to come together to champion integrated water storage solutions--natural, built, and hybrid-to meet a range of human, economic, and environmental needs for the twenty-first century. The event will also serve as the launch of the newly released Water GP publication, "What the Future Has in Store: A New Paradigm for Water Storage", which draws on the World Banks decades of global experience with integrated water resource management. The report provides a practical framework to help with everything from evaluating long-term investments in natural and built infrastructure, to decision-making under uncertainty, to integrated planning techniques, and international case studies.
How to Join the Event
Join virtually on World Bank Live which is the World Bank's event streaming platform designed to engage global audiences in conversations about international development.
The session will be available in English, Spanish, French and Arabic.
If you are joining in person, please join us at the World Bank’s Headquarters in Washington (Room MC2-800). External (Non-Bank) guests wishing to join the event in person should click on this link and the Team will get back to you with instructions for accessing the Building.
You can submit questions ahead of time, or during the session.
If you have questions, please contact: AskWater@worldbank.org
