A stakeholder conference held by the European Commission Directorate-General for the Environment discussed the impacts of climate change on water and called for addressing knowledge and data gaps.
One conclusion of the conference was that water can no longer be considered its own sector due to its integral importance in industrial and agricultural production, as well as in the energy sector.
3 October 2012: The European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment has held a stakeholder conference under the framework of the project on “Adapting Drinking Water Resources to the Impacts of Climate Change in Europe” (ADWICE).
The stakeholder conference, which took place on 2 October 2012, in Brussels, Belgium, included representatives of the European Water Partnership (EWP), European Commission, BIO Intelligence, Cranfield University, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Brussels Regional Parliament. The conference reiterated the negative impacts of climate change on drinking water and noted that impacts may occur more quickly and with unanticipated force. The conference highlighted regional differences in impacts and that more accurate data is needed to estimate climate change effects. The conference concluded that water can no longer be considered its own sector due to its integral importance in industrial and agricultural production, as well as in the energy sector. [European Water Partnership Press Release]