Search Climate Insights Directory

This policy briefing analyzes the water governance structure of Botswana, highlighting the country's water scarcity and the need for institutional reform. It argues that while the government has developed strategies like the 2013 IWRM-WE plan and a 2012 draft water policy, implementation has been slow, with outdated legislation and a continued reliance on supply-side expansion over demand management.

This submission to the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission advocates for a strategic, integrated whole-basin management approach for the Lake Winnipeg and Nelson River basins to address climate change, nutrient loading, and water regulation.

This report provides an economic assessment of climate change impacts on Uganda's water sector, projecting water demand and supply through 2050. Using the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) tool, it estimates significant increases in unmet water demand and associated economic losses, while evaluating the cost-effectiveness of government adaptation strategies.

This research paper explores the relationship between adaptive capacity and social protection within agroforestry systems, utilizing case studies from Zambia and Honduras to illustrate how these two elements mutually support one another in mitigating climate risks like drought.

This case study examines the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), a large-scale transboundary water transfer scheme between Lesotho and South Africa. While praised for its engineering, the project has faced significant challenges regarding corruption, social displacement, and the long-term impact of climate change on water security.

This research paper examines the welfare costs of drought plan transactions between the El Dorado Irrigation District (EID) in California and its customers, using a discrete continuous choice (DCC) model within a water evaluation and planning (WEAP) model to estimate consumer welfare loss.

This research paper presents a hydro-economic modeling framework that integrates farm-based economic models with semi-distributed hydrologic models to assess water policy interventions in Spain's Middle Guadiana basin. The study evaluates the impact of minimum environmental flows and reductions in legal irrigation water deliveries on agricultural profitability and ecological goals.

This report, commissioned by the UNDP and implemented by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), assesses climate risks for smallholder agriculture in Honduras. It identifies a high vulnerability to droughts, tropical storms, and floods, which threaten food security and national development goals. The report recommends a combination of local adaptive actions—such as improved water and soil management—and institutional reforms to mainstream climate risk into national agricultural policy.

This report, commissioned by the UNDP, assesses climate risks for wetlands in Niger, specifically focusing on La Mare de Tabalak in the Tahoua region. It examines the vulnerability of the pond and its local inhabitants to recurring droughts and floods, the impact of environmental degradation, and the existing institutional frameworks for climate risk management. The document provides recommendations for sustainable wetland management, emphasizing intercommunal cooperation, improved monitoring, and the integration of gender issues into climate policies.

This report, commissioned by the UNDP and implemented by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), assesses climate risks to crop production—specifically maize, beans, and coffee—in Uganda's Rakai and Kapchorwa districts. It identifies that while Uganda has seen economic growth, its heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture makes it highly vulnerable to increasing droughts, floods, and rising temperatures. The study combines local consultations, crop modelling, and literature reviews to recommend a holistic risk management approach involving conservation agriculture, improved irrigation, stress-resistant crop varieties, and strengthened national governance and coordination.

This report by the Institute for Security Studies examines the internal displacement of pastoralist communities in northern Kenya, highlighting a significant gap in protection and assistance compared to other regions of the country. It analyzes the complex drivers of displacement—including colonial legacies, violence, human rights abuses, and climate factors—and argues that current responses are largely inadequate, short-term, and uncoordinated.

A research paper investigating the drivers of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) dynamics in six UK peatlands during simulated drought cycles, finding that DOC decreases are consistently linked to acidification (measured by acid neutralising capacity) rather than solely by sulphate levels or soil biota.

This briefing, published by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network in 2012, synthesises findings from the IPCC SREX report specifically for the water sector. It examines how climate extremes—such as floods and droughts—interact with human vulnerability and exposure to create disaster risk, and provides a framework for integrating disaster risk management (DRM) with climate change adaptation (CCA) to build long-term resilience in water management systems.

This fact sheet describes research using Polylepis tarapacana tree rings to reconstruct precipitation on the Bolivian Altiplano, linking a severe drought starting in 1316 to a shift from vulnerable valley villages to fortified hilltop settlements (Pukaras) due to social conflict over water.

This IAI fact sheet describes how tree-ring analysis of Polylepis tarapacana in the Bolivian Altiplano provides evidence that a severe, prolonged drought between 1316 and 1371 coincided with a transition from vulnerable settlements to fortified sites (Pukaras), suggesting that water scarcity triggered social conflicts.

This fact sheet from the World Resources Institute examines the link between man-made climate change and recent extreme weather events in the United States, specifically focusing on extreme heat, droughts, and wildfires.

A memorandum from Friends of the Earth urging journalists to increase in-depth reporting on the unambiguous connections between climate change and the extreme weather events observed during the summer of 2010.

The report details the second year of project CRN-2094, which investigates how land cover and land use changes (LCLUC) affect the hydroclimate and extreme weather events in the La Plata Basin. Key activities include the development of a Land Data Assimilation System, the use of Ecosystem Functional Types (EFTs) to improve regional climate models, and the implementation of agricultural monitoring tools in Paraguay.

A speech delivered by Mr. John Rao Nyaoro on behalf of Kenya's Minister of Water and Irrigation at a 2009 workshop in Mombasa. The address discusses the impacts of climate change on water resources in Kenya and Africa, the resulting internal and transboundary water conflicts, and Kenya's policy responses and diplomatic positions regarding the Nile Basin.

This policy brief, published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in August 2009, examines climate-related vulnerability and adaptive capacity among pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the Borana and Shinile zones of Ethiopia. Based on a 2009 study, the document details how increasing temperatures, drought frequency, and unpredictable rainfall are rendering traditional coping strategies ineffective, leading to food insecurity and environmental degradation. It provides specific recommendations for the Ethiopian government, civil society, and international donors to enhance resilience through community-led interventions, improved infrastructure, and better climate information sharing.