Climate Change Conference: Adaptation to the Effects of Climate Change
On 3 December 2007, a Conference on the Adaptation of Water Management to the Effects of Climate Change in the Danube region took place in Vienna.
The goal was to discuss the expected effects of climate change on the water cycle, such as enhanced droughts and floods, and how the related challenges can be met for the sake of nature and people.
Effects of climate change concern us all
Climate change is a topic that has been attracting wide attention. As the effects of climate change continue to impact us, it is time to strengthen our exchange of experiences and to develop best practice examples with regard to adapting to the effects of climate change. In this context, water management issues are of great importance and can be more effectively treated from a regional perspective.
Cooperation to meet the future challenges
Future-oriented, close cooperation in the Danube region is an important objective of Austrian foreign policy. The Austrian Ministry for European and International Affairs has therefore offered to host a conference on the effects of climate change on the Danube river basin.
The conference was organised in cooperation with the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management and the ICPDR. The conference addressed the effects of climate change in the Danube River Basin, focussing on the needs for adaptation from a water management point of view, especially when implementing the EU Water Framework Directive. A key piece of European legislation, the Directive rewrites existing water legislation into a new overarching programme to deliver long-term protection of the water environment and to improve the quality of all waters – ground and surface waters – and associated wetlands.
Implementation of the Directive will take place through a series of planning cycles. This will allow long-term environmental trends such as climate change to be taken into account, and provide the opportunity to develop answers for challenging questions. It is high time to start!
