It has been almost a week since I arrived in this middle class city of Durban, one of the most expensive place on this planet. While the fooprint is very visible here and there, lot of good things in town easily deviate your mind from that sad past. One of them is the good signal you read in your hotel room: TAP WATER IS SAFE TO BE DRUNK IN OUR CITY. What a good news. At least, here...

Days later, realities come to forefront. Negotiations, here, granted are meant to solve three equations: future of the Kyoto Protocol (so dear to the African people) and its associated GhG emissions reduction target for Annex I countries (both KP parties or not), the funding for both adaptation and mitigation (in the context of the existing various funds but also the Green Climate Fund), and a framework to avoid any gap between international commitments. However, one get quickly surprised that the negotiators need to get some additional bathe. In fact, surprisingly, there's no water in the COP's cup. What's happening here guys? Am I dreaming. Water as the best medium through which the climate has been measured is not considered while discussion global warming... That's a dry agenda. I think the COP needs some more drops of tap water...This probably explains why all these places are so thirsty and empty of concrete actions... One suggested we need to take from them at least for a day, all the bottle water in the room and see what will help next.

Why?

I do not want to again restart the reality check of water stress in various parts of the world today (Dakar, Senegal is short of water for the past 7 days). Of course, there is a great opportunity that the Durban COP will explore adaptation and African water issues. However there is a huge risk that the issue of water is a much bigger issue for the Southern hemisphere and may not be considered a worldwide priority. Is that correct? You tell me. But the reality is that beyond some scanty reference to water in the Nairobi Work Plan or in the text being discussed within SBSTTA, no where this precious liquid gets its due attention.

Are they not aware? Oh yes, they are, very more than anyone can imagine. At a side event organised by the AfdB this week inside the majestuous African Pavillion, I got the chance to understand some of the underlying reasons preventing a real move to be made on the issue of water...

First, i understood one shocking news: Lake Chad lost 90% of its size and should the current trend continues, 30 millions people will have to find refuges in just 20 years. So, a marathon approach  needs to be engaged as soon as possible. Unfortunately, not the right people are at the right places. How can we send professional doctors for a marathon or Zulu language teachers to a swim race? You understood, the specialist of water (though all in there know how thirst is dangerous) are not in the negotiations. Engineers are rarely part of delegations...Then a funny thing happens when those with better knowledge try to engage the negotiators. The latter tell the water professionals that they are only interested in the money in either the Fast Start Finance (FSF) or in the soon-possibly-to-come Green Climate Fund. We all know that's not true. The correct thing is that water needs to be in the negotiators because of all the additional costs linked to all projects implementation. As M Tall, Executive Secretary of the AMCOW said, 'we need to capture the additional cost of water, less we end up missing  lots of time and energy'.

 Fortunately, a very welcome group, the Youth, made a good appeal asking for their role to support this advocacy process. In the recent days, it was heartwarming to see the youth with good posters: where's the water in here? It's getting thirsty in here? 

It is clear that beyond COP lobby, actions must start at home? Meetings like the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, Heads of States Prep Meetings, Council of Energy Ministers, Water and Sanitation Meetings must serve as the main podium for water advocacy. 

Individual funding like that of the African Development Bank (Afrian Green Climate Fund) can also serve as an entry point for water. And again, we need to train these negotiations all year long, especially in their countries about the need to look beneath the carbon and under the forest to see what really makes the worlks continue to support us.. Hopefull the water and climate days here will help push this agenda forward.
We need water in our COP. And we need it now... 

 Hope?

Yes, we have faith. Twelve heads of government and state have said they will participate in UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said on Friday. African leaders from the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Republic of Congo and Senegal are set to attend the 12-day talks which wrap up on December 9, Figueres said. For Water sake, Ethiopia and Senegal's people and their leaders can better understand why we need water here.

About 130 ministers will also descend on the coastal city. Why not welcome them with an empty CUP. That's the action, I will be discussing with the Youth Water working group later in the week end.

A preliminary draft of what could be a "Durban Accord" will circulate over the weekend so negotiators can continue the hunt for an elusive middle ground in the troubled talks.

Beyond the the key issues of the future of the Kyoto Protocol, the only international treaty limiting greenhouse gases, and the urgency to lay down an objective of crafting a comprehensive climate deal before the end of the decade, we must ensure that the substance of life get its Royal Attention. In fact, this is about Water Change and not Climate Change...