Water and Climate Change Adaptation
Policies to Navigate Uncharted Waters
This report sets out the challenge for freshwater in a changing climate and provides
policy guidance on how to navigate this new “waterscape”. It highlights the range
of expected changes in the water cycle and the challenge of making practical, on-site
adaptation decisions for water. It offers policymakers a risk-based approach to better
“know”, “target” and “manage” water risks and proposes policy guidelines to prioritise
action and improve the efficiency, timeliness and equity of adaptation responses.
The report also highlights general trends and good practices drawn from the OECD Survey
of Policies on Water and Climate Change Adaptation, covering all 34 member countries
and the European Commission. Individual country profiles are available, which provide
a snapshot of the challenges posed by climate change for freshwater and the emerging
policy responses (on-line only).
Finally, the report highlights the benefits of well-designed economic instruments
(e.g. insurance schemes, water trading, water pricing), ecosystem-based approaches
and ‘real options’ approaches to financing. These approaches can improve the flexibility
of water policy and investment, reducing the cost of adjusting to changing conditions.
Published on September 02, 2013Also available in: French
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