Around the world, major changes are underway – or coming – in how we manage and protect natural resources and landscapes and how we produce and consume energy, food, and the goods and services our economies depend on. Those changes are driven by the need to tackle the climate crisis.
Some of the most significant impacts of climate change involve freshwater systems, which are vital for agriculture, ecosystems, settlements, industry, and energy production. Bolivia is already facing a water crisis due to limited supplies, population growth, and escalating water usage across the economy. Millions of people risk being left without reliable access to safe drinking water.
As part of a series exploring how projects financed by the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) have contributed to or affected just transitions, a new study looks into Bolivia’s water resource management from a just transition perspective. The study, "Supporting Just Transitions to a Sustainable Water Sector in Bolivia", draws insights from CIF-funded projects under the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) to identify ways in which CIF and other climate finance providers can explicitly support just transitions in the water sector, in Bolivia and worldwide.
Addressing Bolivia’s water challenges requires deep and potentially disruptive transformations to establish more sustainable and inclusive water resource management practices. If not carefully managed, the required changes to institutions, technologies, and water management strategies could have real human impacts, particularly among people and communities whose livelihoods are affected, or who were already vulnerable to begin with. That, in turn, could also create local resistance to the transition.
A just transition to sustainable water management is critical for Bolivia and other water-stressed countries, to prevent adverse impacts on individuals, communities, governments, and businesses.
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Logrando transiciones de adaptación justas en Bolivia
En todo el mundo, están ocurriendo –o se avecinan– cambios importantes en la gestión y protección de los recursos naturales y los paisajes y en la forma en que producimos y consumimos energía, alimentos y los bienes y servicios de los que dependen nuestras economías. Esos cambios están impulsados por la necesidad de abordar la crisis climática.
Algunos de los impactos más significativos del cambio climático afectan los sistemas de agua dulce, que son vitales para la agricultura, los ecosistemas, los asentamientos, la industria y la producción de energía. Bolivia ya enfrenta una crisis de agua debido a sus suministros limitados, el crecimiento de la población y el aumento del uso del agua en toda la economía. Millones de personas están a riesgo de quedarse sin acceso confiable al agua potable segura.
Como parte de una serie que explora cómo los proyectos financiados por los Fondos de Inversión Climática (CIF) han contribuido o afectado las transiciones justas, un nuevo estudio analiza la gestión de los recursos hídricos de Bolivia desde una perspectiva de transición justa. El estudio, “Apoyando transiciones justas hacia un sector de agua sostenible en Bolivia”, deriva lecciones de los proyectos financiados por CIF bajo el Programa Piloto para la Resiliencia Climática (PPCR) para identificar formas en que CIF y otros proveedores de financiamiento climático pueden apoyar explícitamente las transiciones justas en el sector hídrico, en Bolivia y en todo el mundo.
Abordar los desafíos hídricos de Bolivia requiere transformaciones profundas y potencialmente disruptivas para establecer prácticas de gestión de recursos hídricos más sostenibles e inclusivas. Si no se manejan con cuidado, los cambios necesarios en las instituciones, las tecnologías y las estrategias de gestión del agua podrían tener impactos humanos reales, en particular entre las personas y las comunidades cuyos medios de vida se ven afectados, o que ya eran vulnerables para empezar. Eso, a su vez, también podría crear resistencia local a la transición.
Una transición justa hacia la gestión sostenible del agua es fundamental para Bolivia y otros países con estrés hídrico, para evitar impactos adversos en las personas, las comunidades, los gobiernos y las empresas.
Descargue “Apoyando transiciones justas hacia un sector hídrico sostenible en Bolivia”
This case study forms part of a series exploring how Climate Investment Funds (CIF) investments have contributed to—or interacted with—efforts to ensure just transitions. The study examines Bolivia’s water resource management challenges and highlights significant conflicts and disparities in the current allocation of water that the transition will need to address. Many low-income households in urban peripheries and rural areas lack access to drinking water, many farmers cannot irrigate their crops, and water pollution is a serious problem. The case study draws out lessons from CIF investments in Bolivia’s water sector, focusing on CIF-funded projects under the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR). The projects examined in this study were not developed with an explicit focus on just transitions, so the analysis does not evaluate whether they achieved them. Instead, it applies a just transitions lens to learn from experience and inform future efforts by CIF and others to explicitly support just transitions in the water sector, in Bolivia and elsewhere.
This case study forms part of a series exploring how Climate Investment Funds (CIF) investments have contributed to—or interacted with—efforts to ensure just transitions. The study examines Bolivia’s water resource management challenges and highlights significant conflicts and disparities in the current allocation of water that the transition will need to address. Many low-income households in urban peripheries and rural areas lack access to drinking water, many farmers cannot irrigate their crops, and water pollution is a serious problem. The case study draws out lessons from CIF investments in Bolivia’s water sector, focusing on CIF-funded projects under the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR). The projects examined in this study were not developed with an explicit focus on just transitions, so the analysis does not evaluate whether they achieved them. Instead, it applies a just transitions lens to learn from experience and inform future efforts by CIF and others to explicitly support just transitions in the water sector, in Bolivia and elsewhere.