Cooperative Project
OECD Cooperative Project
National Dialogue on Water in Asia (2020-2024)
A Collaboration of the MOE-OECD-AWC
Overview
The Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea (MoE), the OECD and the AWC) have commenced a five‑year collaboration (2020-2025) aimed at helping to achieve the water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Asia. The collaboration should firmly establish the MoE, the AWC and the OECD as key project partners that provide guidance on water-related policies, financing approaches, institutional arrangements and technologies.
The purpose of the collaboration is to work with governments and stakeholders to identify policies and financing approaches that can scale up and secure financing for water-related investments that address Asia’s current and future water issues, and contribute to sustainable growth.
The collaboration will potentially cover 9 Asian countries (among Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Mongolia and North Korea) over the course of a 5-year period. It will cover one country for the first and second years and two countries for each year from 2022 to 2024
MoE, AWC and OECD works with the host country to examine and address key water challenges by identifying:
- ✓ policy priorities, including priority areas for water-related investment
- ✓ options to address financing needs and enhance financing capacities, and
- ✓ technologies and innovation in line with policy priorities, financing strategies and capacities
UNDP Cooperative Project
Enhancing Integrated Water Management and Climate Resilience in Vulnerable Urban Areas of the Mekong River Basin (2021-2024)
A Collaboration of the MOE-UNDP-AWC
Overview
The Mekong River and its tributaries are waterways critical to the economy and food supply chains of both Lao PDR and Cambodia. However, these waterways also present a great risk posed by flooding and dry periods – events that are becoming more erratic, longer, and more intense with the compounding effects of anthropogenic climate change.
The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in both Cambodia and Lao PDR may increase due to changing climatic conditions, with water resources affected in various ways. Across Southeast Asia, the mean annual temperature is expected to rise by the year 2100 from 0.8°C in the optimistic emissions scenario to 3.2°C in the pessimistic emissions scenario. A moderate increase in precipitation is also projected in this region, from 1% to 8% by the end of 21st century but this increase won’t spread out evenly throughout the year – increasing rainfall, river discharge and flooding are predicted during the wet season, while extended droughts are likely to occur during the dry season.
Through the collaboration of the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea, the UNDP and AWC, this project aims to strengthen the climate and disaster resilience of people and communities in vulnerable regions of Lao PDR and Cambodia through improved risk and vulnerability assessment and advancing an integrated approach to water resources management.
The project comprises of a set of measures that span three key outputs:
- ✓ Water-related climate risks assessed in the priority river basins.
- ✓ Enabling environment for climate risk-informed integrated water resources management developed.
- ✓ Funding proposal for priority risk reduction measures developed.
IWRA Cooperative Project
Smart Water Cities Project (2020-2023)
A Collaboration of the IWRA-K-water-AWC
Overview
On 8thJuly 2020 the Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-Water), the Asia Water Council (AWC) and the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) destined to establish the basis for a project dedicated to the analysis of smart water solutions for a new urban development being built near the city of Busan in the Republic of Korea: the Busan Eco Delta City (BEDC). The project will run for three years from July 2020 to August 2023.
The project is divided into three phases, each with their own objectives and tasks:
| PHASE 1 Identifying Smart Water Cities |
PHASE 2 Developing Standards |
PHASE 3 Certification |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Period | Jan 2021 - Dec 2021 | Jan 2022 – Dec 2022 | Jan 2023 – Dec 2023 |
| Goal | Analysis of Smart Water Cities, global agenda, regional/national policies and strategies, global standards frameworks and certification schemes and case studies | Development of KPIs for Smart Water City and certification protocols | Pilot testing of the certification scheme and guidelines |
Current Status
From January 2023 the third part of the Smart Water Cities project will test the Smart Water City Index and Certification Scheme in various cities selected for the project. This phase will serve to refine and introduce any necessary changes to the Index and Certification scheme so to ensure that it is applicable to cities under diverse circumstances and facing different water challenges.