10th World Water Forum Regional Process
Towards the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation 2025:
Cooperation, Governance and Priority-setting for Climate Action and Resiliencebuilding to Glacial Melt in Asia
22 May 2024 (16.40 – 18.10)
Bali, Indonesia
Meeting Room: Mengwi 7&8, Theatre
OVERVIEW:
There is a critical need to strengthen cooperation to address the challenges posed by glacial andsnow melt and its interactions with other climate-related phenomenon and the demand for water.
The Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountain ranges and the Pamir Mountains, also known asthe ‘Third Pole’, are among the world’s highest. This mountainous region encompasses the largest
mass of ice and snow outside of the North and South Poles and is home to almost 55,000 glaciers1.
Referred to as the ‘Water Tower of Asia’, these ranges are the source of 10 major rivers, namely theAmu Darya, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Salween, Tarim, Yangtse and Yellow
River2. They are crucial to the water security of two billion people3 in Central, North-East, South andSouth-West, and South-East Asia who depend on them for freshwater resources for consumption,sanitation, food and energy production as well as inland waterways transport, tourism andecosystem services.
However, climate change is shifting glacial and snow melt patterns. Glaciers in the Third Pole are
melting at a faster rate than the global average ice mass and it has been projected, for instance, thatby 2050 the glacier mass in the Everest region will shrink by 39-52 percent4. The accelerated rates ofmelting and retreat of glaciers induced by global warming and altered precipitation regimes – andfurther reinforced by factors such as black carbon deposition – are driving water-related disasters
and impacting multiple sectors, with women, smallholder farmers and indigenous and marginalized
communities among those most vulnerable. For example, as reiterated in recent research5, glacial
melt is a contributor to flash floods, landslides and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods. In the agriculturaland energy sectors, increased water flows in the short term elevate the risk of downstream flood
The World Bank (2021). Glaciers of the Himalayas. Climate Change, Black Carbon, and Regional Resilience.
Available at https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/ff8b1264-d631-5d3d-814f80f509c82aa9/content (pp. 1).
2
ICIMOD (2019). Water Security in the Hindu Kush Himalaya. HIMAP Chapter 8 Brief (pp. 2).
3
UNEP (2022). A Scientific Assessment of the Third Pole Environment. Available athttps://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/39757/ASATPE.pdf (pp. IV).
4
The World Bank (2021). Glaciers of the Himalayas. Climate Change, Black Carbon, and Regional Resilience.
Available at https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/ff8b1264-d631-5d3d-814f80f509c82aa9/content (pp. 1).
5Ibid (pp. 1-2).
11damage to farm production and to dams and hydropower facilities. In the long term, reduced waterflows and drought are expected to deepen water scarcity which can jeopardize food security andundermine the operation of the hydropower facilities. The impacts will vary by river basin, dependingon the relative contributions of glacial melt, snow melt and precipitation throughout the year, whileland use, infrastructure investments and demographic change will also continue to play an importantrole in shaping the picture at the local level.
Effective management, adaptation and investment strategies will rely on appropriate governancearchitectures for transboundary collaboration. Better monitoring and understanding of ongoing andprojected changes in water demand and supply, impacted communities and sectors and priorities
for building resilience will support effective planning and investment in affected areas. Governments
in Asia have taken significant steps forward, with approaches shaped by geography, culture and otherfactors. In Central Asia, the International Fund for the Aral Sea is promoting cooperation for themanagement of transboundary water resources. In the Mekong River Basin, also highly vulnerable toclimate change and impacts of glacial melt, the Mekong River Commission is enabling dialogue andcollaborative action on shared water resources management including monitoring, forecasting andbasin planning. South and South-West Asia’s cooperation is being cemented by high-level politicalcooperation, among other developments. There are important opportunities for learning from theprogress made to date across these and other vulnerable sub-regions.
OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES:The session, which will be co-organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Asia-PacificWater Forum (APWF), will take a closer look at ongoing scientific cooperation and key aspects oftransboundary cooperation needed to address glacial melt and related impacts. The expected
outcomes include:•••

Increased awareness of the key vulnerabilities to, and challenges posed by, glacial melt in Asia.
Shared assessment of the state of scientific cooperation and critical gaps.
Enhanced understanding of progress achieved, and lessons learned in different sub-regions ofAsia regarding key aspects of transboundary cooperation such as integrated river-basin
management and monitoring, science-policy interface, financing and investment, and crossborder institutional coordination.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in December 2022 to declare 2025 as
the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation (IYGP). In this context, an international conference onglaciers preservation will be held in Tajikistan in 2025. The discussion in the present session will help
shape contributions to the international conference.

2TENTATIVE PROGRAMME:Time allocation

Agenda item

16.40 – 16.55(15 min)Opening:• Opening remarks: Ms. Hitomi Rankine, Chief, Environment andDevelopment Policy Section, Environment and Development Division,ESCAP• Keynote address: H.E. Mr. Shoimzoda Jamshed Shodi, Deputy Minister ofEnergy and Water Resources, Tajikistan
Panel: State of knowledge and scientific cooperation• What does the science tell us about glacial melt and its implications?
• What is the state of scientific cooperation (progress, gaps andopportunities)?

16.55 – 17.20(25 minutes)

Moderator: Ms. Changhua Wu, Chair of the Governing Council, Asia-PacificWater Forum

17.20 – 17.55(35 minutes)

Panelists:• Dr. Abou Amani, Director, Water Sciences Division and Secretary,
Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme, United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization• Dr. Mohsin Hafeez, Director, Water, Food and Ecosystems, International
Water Management InstitutePanel: Sub-regional perspectives on transboundary collaboration• What are the three most important areas of progress on transboundary
collaboration on water resources management in different sub-regions?
• What are some lessons learned?
• What are the top priorities for strengthening transboundary governanceand collaboration in Asia?
Moderator: Ms. Hitomi Rankine, Chief, Environment and Development Policy
Section, Environment and Development Division, ESCAP

17.55 – 18.10(15 min)Panelists:• Central Asia: Mr. Gamzat Khairov, Deputy Chairman, Executive
Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea• Hindu-Kush-Himalaya region: Dr. Senaka Basnayake, Director, Asian
Disaster Preparedness Center• South-East Asia: Dr. Truong Hong Tien, Deputy Director General, Viet Nam
National Mekong Committee Secretariat
Commentary and Discussion
Closing3