Climate Policy / Natural Resources & Biodiversity

Thai-German Climate Programme – Water

CONTEXT

In 2017, the Global Climate Risk Index ranked Thailand as the 10th country most affected by climate change. A growing population, expanding urban centres, economic growth and risks posed by climate change are expected to make sustainable water management more difficult in the coming years. In response, Thailand is undertaking considerable efforts to enhance climate resilience in its national and sub-national water resources management. Thailand’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement prioritizes the promotion of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as a key adaptation effort to achieve water security, reduce flood and drought risks and manage extreme weather events.

OBJECTIVE

To enhance the national framework conditions for climate-sensitive IWRM and Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) solutions to prevent and reduce the impacts of climate change and water-related disasters at national and river-basin levels

APPROACHES

National Policy Development
The project integrates adaptation to climate change, including ecosystem-based solutions, into national water resources management strategies and plans and develops a national guideline for climate-sensitive River Basin Master Plans (climate-sensitive RBMPs) to be applied in Thailand’s 22 river basins.

Sub-national Implementation
The project supports institutional and technical capacity building to increase access to risk information and to enhance the development of climate-sensitive RBMPs that follow a participatory multi-stakeholder approach and include EbA as a guiding strategy for adaptation to climate change at a river basin scale.

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)
The project sets up a framework for the monitoring and reporting of adaptation actions in the water sector in line with national M&E processes of NAP implementation and international climate change reporting under the Paris Agreement.

Financing
The project develops options for public and private financing of adaptation measures as models for climate finance in the water sector.

International Cooperation
The project synergises and shares good practices with other national and international initiatives on Thailand’s experiences on the systematic integration of climate change adaptation in the water sector.

RESULTS SO FAR

The joint development of a self-assessment tool for mainstreaming climate change adaptation (CCA) and Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in the water sector and the joint participation in the COP have strengthened the interagency cooperation between ONEP and ONWR. This cooperation will be continued with the development of a joint policy brief series for a climate-resilient transformation of the water sector.
Two pilot sites – the Yom and Sakaekrang river basin in the lower North and the western part of Thailand – have been selected for the implementation of project activities to support climate risk informed planning and the development of EbA measures.
A joint research partnership between ONWR and selected universities has been set up to support the development of a digital solution-based Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) methodology to assess the impacts and benefits of EbA measures and provide scientific evidence on the important role ecosystems can play for climate resilient river basins.