Conference Agenda

Climate change has dramatic consequences for water and food security and for livelihoods more generally. Under growing scarcity and competition for water the community-based water governance and management systems, that small-scale water users in the Global South rely on for domestic uses and food production, are losing out in competition with large scale users. Food and health security, provided by rural and indigenous women who constitute the majority of the world’s smallholder and subsistence farmers, is under threat.

This panel addresses recent attempts to turn this trend, with focus on the close relationship between the right to water, food, health and environment in human rights discourse, the FAO-led global water tenure dialogue, and national laws and policies. How these initiatives may ensure that the customary water norms and institutions, that constitute the key elements in the realization of food and health security and poverty reduction are respected and protected, is discussed. In the context of climate change: What are the states’ duties to promote and protect vulnerable groups’ rights to water, health, food and environment? What are the positive measures that should be taken to guarantee the availability and accessibility of those rights, especially during times of scarcity? How to ensure that climate change mitigation and adaptation programs in sectors such as agricultural production and clean energy are balanced against rural small-scale farmers’ and pastoralists’ land and water rights? How can a human rights approach to water be strengthened to respond to the growing uncertainties of floods and droughts? What kind of national legislation is needed to ensure water security for small scale users who rely on customary water norms in times of increasing scarcity and competition?