Cascading Climate Risks Impact on Water Governance and Human Security in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Transboundary climate risks (TCRs) are transforming the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region. In recent years, cascading disasters have become a pressing challenge in transboundary river basin communities in South Asia. Transboundary climate risks generate multiplier effects that are transmitted across international borders and transferred from one impacted system to another. Transboundary climate risks can be challenging to identify, assess, and manage, disrupting water governance, exacerbating tensions, and amplifying human insecurity. This chapter presents an overview of transboundary climate risks and risk cascades, as well as their implications for human security, disaster risk reduction, and water governance in the Indus and Ganga–Brahmaputra River basins. The study reviews existing climate risk, water governance, and disaster risk reduction literature and identifies past and emerging transboundary climate risks and their transmission dynamics. To promote greater resilience, this research makes the case for applying a human security approach to risk management and climate diplomacy. In addition, diverse multi-sectoral and scalar response mechanisms to transboundary climate risks are recommended. To guide risk-informed sustainable development, multi-level regional cooperation and a shared risk landscape are essential to address new complex climate risks.