Water and Climate Task Force: 1st meeting

The first meeting of the Task Force on Water and Climate will be held on 22-23 November 2007 in Bonn (Germany). The Task Force was established at the fourth meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention and entrusted with activities in two main areas of work: transboundary flood management and water and climate adaptation. The first meeting will be devoted to the planning and development of activities in these two areas, in particular related to the preparation of a Guidance on Water and Climate Adaptation for the fifth Meeting of the Parties Please find attached the agenda for the meeting.

You are kindly requested to facilitate nomination of relevant experts from your country/organization for the participation in the first meeting of the Task Force. Deadline for registration is 20 October 2007. Eligible delegates from countries with economy in transition may apply for financial support by 9 October 2007 (see the registration form and the financial support form attached). For your convenience, the host secretariat kindly prepared a note on hotel accommodation.

The work of the Task Force is closely related to work under the Protocol on Water and Health on water supply and sanitation in short-term critical situations and adaptation to climate change which aims to develop guidelines to respond to short-term critical situations and address long-term adaptation needs for water supply and sanitation systems, given the potential impacts of climate change. It is therefore foreseen that the activities under the Water Convention and the Protocol on Water and Health will be closely coordinated, by e.g. holding back-to-back meeting, common workshops and integrating the results of the two activities.