Adaptation to climate change: Towards effective management of water resources

The first component of the project will explore the relationship between precipitation variability and agricultural trade volumes. It will evaluate various climate change scenarios in relation to the potential implications of future climate variability and incidence of extreme events on the volumes and patterns of agriculture trade. This will constitute the basis of analysis of the potential impacts of climate change on trade volumes and on the role of trade in climate change. The second component of the project will build on the case study of Jordan which investigates how Jordan’s problem of securing access to sufficient fresh water supplies could most efficiently be addressed at national, regional and international levels. It also looks at the question of whether and to what extent the option of ‘trade in fresh water’ could help relieve the problem.  It will investigate this issue in the context of climate change and major political changes taking place across the Middle East. The third component of the project will be the ongoing PhD project on trade in water, which investigates the issue from an international law perspective. It examines various dimensions of trade in bulk water and trade in virtual water, as well as water services under WTO trade law with the aim of offering a comprehensive framework which would help in organising future trade in water under the impact of climate change. Based upon these components, the study will thus seek to assess needs for future investment in agricultural infrastructure, research and development.