Delegates at the annual World Water Week today called for water to be included in a new climate change treaty being negotiated, noting effects ranging from droughts to floods, dpa reported. Talks are ongoing on a new treaty on greenhouse gas emissions scheduled to be adopted at a summit in Copenhagen in December, aimed at replacing the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. "Water is a key medium through which climate change impacts will be felt," the statement adopted Friday at the World Water Week said. The statement also noted that adaptation was needed to ensure "sustainable development and poverty reduction." It also noted how "the impacts of climate change are most likely to affect populations and ecosystems" ranging from arid areas to small island developing states or low-lying countries. Anders Berntell, executive director of the Stockholm International Water Institute, said water is "the medium through which climate change manifests its most serious effects." The institute is one of the main organizers of the World Water Week attended by well over 2,000 researchers, politicians, business leaders and others. During the week, several awards were presented including to sanitation pioneer Bindeshwar Pathak of India who Thursday accepted the 2009 Stockholm Water Prize for developing a simple toilet system used in India and several other countries.
