As a developing region prone to extreme weather, Southern Africa is particularly sensitive to climate change. Specifically, climate change impacts water resources, increasing water stress in dry areas and harming water quality due to flooding.
Therefore, SADC prepared the booklet Climate Change Adaptation in SADC – A Strategy for the Water Sector in order to specify methods of helping the water sector adapt to the effects of global warming.
The Strategy notes the current situation in Southern Africa, in which climate change is already intensifying threats to the region’s water stability. To ease this stress, the Strategy advocates the region adopt water governance, infrastructure development, and water management measures. These measures intend to institute the necessary political, economic, administrative, and infrastructure systems necessary for the region to deal with the uncertainty caused by climate change. As well, the Strategy sets out an implementation plan and a system for monitoring and evaluating projects to ensure that adaptation measures remain effective.
