Climate Change Impacts in the Maghreb Region: Status and Prospects of the Water Resources

Abstract

The fifth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reiterates that the Maghreb region is severely threatened by climate change and seems to be one of the most vulnerable regions in the world regarding its water resources responses to the changing climate conditions. The effects of climate change could significantly increase the relevance of water development policies, given that economic growth of the majority of Maghreb countries is closely related to water resources and contributes strongly to the socioeconomic balance and gross domestic product. In the Maghreb region, the need to mainstream climate change into development plans is already recognized and highlighted; the new constitutions have already adopted the sustainable development concept, which opens opportunities for improvement and protection of natural resources. Over the last decades, countries have tried to overcome water stress and scarcity by improving water policy and strategy, infrastructure development, economy of water use, wastewater, and desalinization, among others. However, the great challenge within the Maghreb region is mainstreaming climate change issues into development planning in the contextual framework of the water–energy–food security nexus, whose components are strongly interdependent. The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of climate change on the water sector in the Maghreb region (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia) by means of a SWOT analysis (SWOT standing for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and to make recommendations on how to improve climate change mainstreaming into water development plans within the region.