Water Security and Climate Change: Israel and the Middle East, with Australian Reflections

This forum is jointly presented by the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce and the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre.

Throughout history, water has posed one of the greatest challenges to humanity. Because it is a source of life, it is also a source of conflict. More than one billion people do not have access to safe water, and some 2.6 billion lack adequate sanitation. However, the lack of access to water is not only due to its scarcity. Rather, the lack of access is due to unequal command of the resource, as well.

Climate change affects water security in many ways. As dry areas get drier and wet areas get wetter, populations will become more vulnerable to hunger, poverty and environmental degradation. Changing patterns of irrigation and agricultural production will also affect national economies and regional politics. Climate change, in short, will do no less than exacerbate the strains that already exist between access to water, inequality, and power.

In the face of these impacts, this talk will present how Israel and the Middle East can address changing flows of trans-boundary waters, irrigation and hydrological interdependence in terms of a changing climate. The talk will discuss the types of water management strategies that will be necessary if Israel and the Middle East is to both meet the needs of its population, while also setting water use levels within the limits of ecological sustainability and political sensitivities.

Dr Clive Lipchin, Arava Institute Israel, will reflect on the water issues in Australia and how these relate to the solutions being developed in the Middle East.