CLIMATE CHANGE AND RISK MANAGEMENT IN PALESTINE

Wafa Hasan, Ghasan Dweik, Palestine Polytechnic University, Palestine

Abstract

Increased hydrologic variability and change in climate will have a profound impact on the way it is been conceptualize, measure, and manage risks. Climate change is creating new risks, alternating the risk we already face, as well as impacting the interdependencies between these risks. Moreover, the uncertainty and water scarcity is among the current dangers accused of threatening the development of today’s human communities. In addition to rapid population growth and industrialization which have placed pressures on increasingly scarce water resources, climate change will introduce additional uncertainties into water resources management, because of increased hydrological variability and the greater frequency of extreme events such as floods and droughts. These changes will add pressure on demand and supply management as well as risk analysis management. This paper will focus on West Bank in Palestine as a case study, as it is one of the most complicated and unstudied area  in the region (Middle East). This paper will focus on two particular dimensions of climate related risks that will require deeper thinking about risk management especially in disaster insurance: (1) a regression analysis- based identification of the diverse of domestic water conflicts and the factors that determine intra-state hydro-security; (2) an inventory of international and national policies dealing with responses to climate change, water resources management, responses to hazards and disasters and in the security in the region.The results of this study are valuable for decision maker as they present new means for the efficient utilization and management of scarce water resources.