UVM Community Development and Applied Economics Professor Asim Zia was a key organizer for a United Nations 2023 Water Conference “side event,” held on March 23 in New York City. Zia was also a keynote speaker for this event entitled, The Integrative Highland to Ocean (H2O) Action for Disappearing Deltas: Towards a UN Convention on Conserving River Deltas.
The event organizers included:
- The African Centre for Climate Actions and Rural Development Initiative (ACCARD).
- Bayelsa State Government.
- The University of Vermont.
- The University of Colorado -Consortium.
- The Transboundary Water In-Cooperation Network (TWIN).
Recognizing that “the growing impact of climate change on water resources will continue to top global discussion as the main driver and cause of most water-related challenges across the globe, leading to human migration especially among young people, to poverty, hunger and communal conflicts as well as to new disease outbreaks,” the meeting focused on two specific water-related concerns:
- Ocean-facing river deltas confronted by sea level rise and salt water intrusion.
- Melting glaciers in highlands leading to streamflow variability in lowlands and deltas of river basins.