The Stream, March 1: Pakistan Takes Action on Climate Change

Policy
Pakistan has developed its first national policy framework for taking action on climate change, including prevention, mitigation and adaptation measures, AlertNet reported. The country has been hit in recent years by increasingly severe floods and droughts.

In opposing a European Commission proposal that would allow the privatization of water supplies, the German Bundesrat, the country’s upper house of parliament, stated today that “The need to ensure a safe, high- quality and health-safe water supply precludes making water a free merchandise,” Bloomberg News reported.

Drought and Water Scarcity
Some rice farmers in Texas are looking at a second year without water supply from lakes Buchanan and Travis, according to the Associated Press. The lakes must reach a water supply level of approximately 1 billion cubic meters (850,000 acre-feet) by the end of today in order for water to be released to most farmers, but were more than 30.8 million cubic meters (25,000 acre-feet) shy of that number on Thursday.

Vietnam’s harvest of robusta coffee is threatened by drought, which could lead to higher prices for that type of coffee, Bloomberg News reported. When combined with factors such as decreased output in Brazil, the drought in Vietnam could also create a squeeze in the global coffee market.

Codi Kozacek

A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.
Contact Codi Kozacek