Water and Climate Data Requirements for the Regional Knowledge Hub (RKH)

of RICCARBy: Tarek Sadek

Water Resources Section (WRS)Sustainable Development and Productivity Division (SDPD)

UN-ESCWA

To assess the impact of climate change on freshwater resources in the Arab Region through a consultative and integrated regional initiative that seeks to identify the socio-economic and environmental vulnerability caused by climate change impacts on water resources based on regional specificities.

The Regional Initiative aims to provide a common platform for addressing and responding to climate change impacts on freshwater resources in the Arab region by serving as the

basis for dialogue, priority setting and policy formulation on climate change adaptation at the regional level.

Regional Initiative for the Assessment of the Impact ofClimate Change on Water Resources and

Socio-Economic Vulnerability in the Arab Region(RICCAR)

Objective

RICCAR Implementation Framework: Four Pillars

Climate Change Impact Assessment

Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment

Awareness Raising & Information Dissemination

Baseline Review & Knowledge Management

Capacity Building & Institutional Strengthening for Water Ministries, Meteorological Offices, Arab Research Centers

Implementing Partners

RICCAR Partnerships

LAS

Donors Research Institutes supporting Climate Ensemble

• Center of Excellence for Climate Change Research/ King Abdulaziz University (CECCR/KAU) - KSA

• King Abdullah University of Science and Technology(KAUST ) - KSA

• Climate Services Center (CSC) - Germany

Cairo Office

Climate Change modeling

Hydrological modeling and water resources management

- Impacts on water resources

- Long term scenario development in water policies

Climate database

Models (GCM and RCM)

Integrated model-based approach for impact and vulnerability assessments

Socio-economic vulnerability and impact assessment

Agriculture

Food SecurityHealth

Industry

Poverty & Employment

Biodiversity

Human Settlement

Regional Knowledge

Hub

Climate Data

Water Data

Outputs from Regional

Climate Model

GIS & Integrated

Maps

Socio-Economic

Data

Vulnerability Hotspots

UNFCCC Communications IWRM Plans

Links to other Knowledge Tools

Password Protected Access to RCM Codes

Objectives and purpose of the RKH

• Objectives• Functions • Contents• Target Audience• Governance structure

Main Objective

to provide an interactive, on-lineplatform that provides access toinformation and knowledge on climatechange-related analysis and waterresources and socio-economicvulnerability assessment tools forinforming climate change adaptationplanning, policies and projects in theArab region.

Secondary Objectives

-To provide access to information that can facilitate cooperation, coordination, dialogue and exchange among Arab countries. - To support regional networking and exchange.- To support awareness raising for national and local stakeholders.- To provide capacity building support. - To develop an early warning platform by establishing a simple disaster early warning component.

Functions

- Provision of 2-D integrated mapping tools.- Ability to show comparative analysis between countries. - Search engine that allows finding raw data, reports, historical trends, people and institutions.- Interactivity/network function component to allow linkage to different institutions.- Traffic monitoring.- Provision of User-friendly applications and products to respond to all potential users.

Contents

- Maps.- Interactive tool to carry out vulnerability assessment and simulate different scenarios. - Data, information and model outputs.- Case studies.- Publication library and provide links to other information sources.-Images library.- Learning tools.- Disaster early warning component linked to UNISDR Prevention Web.

Primary group

Target Audience/Users

Decision and policy makers

Universities and research centers

Water utilities

Secondary group

Regional organizations

Parliamentarians

Civil society

Financial institutions

Private sector

International development organizations

Governance structure

-The RKH will be supervised by an Executive Board/Advisory Body under League of Arab States (e.g. LAS climate change and water technical committees). - Governance structure should be included in a document and should have a regulatory and legislative basis.

Regional Knowledge Hub

Arab Ministerial Water Council (AMWC)

RegionalKnowledge Hub (RKH)Arab Climate Knowledge Hub

(regional mechanism)

Knowledge Hub NetworkMaghreb Water & Climate Node

RKH Advisors (GIZ,ESCWA)

Coordinating Secretariat

Gulf Water & Climate Node

MashreqWater & Climate Node

Water & Climate Node

Regional Knowledge Hub

Regional Climate Outlook Forum (RCOF)Arab Climate Outlook Forum

(annual meetings)

Arab Ministerial Water Council (AMWC)

Arab Permanent Committee on

Meteorology (APCM)

RegionalKnowledge Hub (RKH)Arab Climate Knowledge Hub

(regional mechanism)

Knowledge Hub NetworkMaghreb Water

& Climate Node

RKH Advisors (GIZ,ESCWA)

RCOF Advisors (WMO,

CORDEX)Coordinating Secretariat

Gulf Water & Climate Node

MashreqWater & Climate Node

Water & Climate Node

Climate Modeling

Node

RCOF Technical Secretari

at (Met Office)

Thank you!Additional information on the Regional Initiative is available at:

www.escwa.un.org/RICCAR