CASCADING RISKS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON WATER SECURITY AND THE POTENTIAL FOR RAPID ADAPATATION

Abstract

Giddens stressed in the ‘Consequences of Modernity’ that trust is contingent and that risks escalate when transfers are disembedded from local contexts. This paper concentrates on the need to develop policy and praxis to protect the commons. A critical and systemic approach explores Inglehart’s (1997) notion of culture shift. Giddens’ (1990) essay on the ‘consequences of modernity’ informs the analysis.

The aim of the paper is to explore the cascading interconnected challenges associated with energy and water security. The paper focuses on the impact of urbanisation in a context of climate change in Cape Town, South Africa where little preparation has been made for accommodating the higher population that has migrated to Cape Town.

This is partly due to the higher cost of a desalination plant because of a corrupt energy sector (Bond, 2012).  It uses a case study approach based on a range of primary and secondary sources to explore water insecurity in Cape Town.

Rapid adaptation to conserve water in Cape Town has been achieved through a combination of fear for the future and a desire not to be shamed through a transparent water management mapping system and through generous donations of water by farmers within the region and by NGOs across South Africa.

In this paper a case is made for a way forward to address the cascading effects of climate change in the Western Cape region of South Africa by redressing the rural-urban imbalance in development opportunities.