2.

4 Climate change predicts that Southern Europe will generally have to

Climate change is expected to have a significant impact cope with far more difficult conditions, including high
on water resources in many regions around the world temperatures, extreme drought, poor water availabil-
over the next few decades. In its latest report, the ity and subsequently limited potential for exploiting
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) water as an energy source.
In Central, Southern, Eastern and Southeast Asia the
volume of available freshwater in the large river basins
The IPCC expects climate change-induced is expected to fall.

water scarcity and floods to intensify. Switzerland, low-lying areas can expect to experi-
In
ence more frequent and in some cases more devastat-
ing flooding in winter and spring as a result of climate
states that anthropogenic drivers are extremely likely change.35 At the same time, unusually dry spells in the
to have been the dominant cause of the observed summer are likely to increase significantly.36
34
I PCC Fifth Assessment
warming since the mid-20th Century,34 and anticipates Western US will be affected by the impact of climate
Report 2014 that climate change-induced water scarcity and floods change on the hydrological regime. Rising tempera-
35
OcCC/ProClim:
will intensify as concentrations of greenhouse gases tures in the western mountains will make the snow-
Klimanderung und increase. According to the IPCC, the impacts of climate pack shrink, increasing the risk of flooding in the winter
die Schweiz 2050
change will vary widely by region: and resulting in lower runoff volumes in summer. This
Erwartete Auswirkungen
auf Umwelt, Gesellschaft is likely to intensify competition for the overexploited
und Wirtschaft, 2007
Within Europe, the Mediterranean countries will be water resources in that region.
36
BAFU 2014 most heavily affected by climate change. The IPCC

Californias snowpack, which supplies about one third of the states water needs, is now at record low levels, exacerbating the effects of the current drought.

18 RobecoSAM Water: the market of the future