The UN 2023 Water Conference
Date: 2023-09-03
Water is a dealmaker for the Sustainable Development Goals, and for the health and prosperity of people and planet. But our progress on water related goals and targets remains alarmingly off track, jeopardizing the entire sustainable development agenda.
The first UN water conference in a generation, the UN 2023 Water Conference, co-hosted by the Governments of Tajikistan and the Netherlands will be a watershed moment to mobilize Member States, the UN system and stakeholders alike to take action and bring successful solutions to a global scale. To catalyse action, the Conference is seeking voluntary commitments, galvanized by the Programme, to the Water Action Agenda.
Today, a quarter of the global population – 2 billion people – use unsafe drinking water sources. Half of humanity – 3.6 billion people – live without safely managed sanitation. And 1 in 3 people – 2.3 billion – lack basic handwashing facilities at home.1 Over 80% of wastewater is released to the environment without being treated or reused.2 And, droughts could be the next pandemic3. Almost three quarters of all recent disasters are water related, having caused economic damage of almost US$700 billion in the past 20 years.
However, water does not only present us with challenges. It also presents us with a great opportunity. If we understand the complex relations and interlinkages, value water holistically, and manage water inclusively at all levels and across all interests, then water can be the dealmaker, the leverage point for a green economy, climate resilience and a more sustainable and inclusive world. Water – because of its many interlinkages – can bring together all stakeholders (individual, institutional, informal) to forge coalitions, strengthen capacities and provide solutions to be replicated and scaled.
The Netherlands and Tajikistan, as co-hosts of the Conference, will strive to make the Conference a watershed moment for the world. Our vision for the Conference is that we all fundamentally understand, value and manage water better and take concerted action to achieve the internationally agreed water-related goals and targets, including those contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
While the Water Action Decade is an essential enabler for the 2030 Agenda, including SDG 6, additional enhancement of a UN system-wide approach to water is necessary for the achievement of water-related goals and targets and to reinforce the international water voice and cross-sectoral connections.
The preparatory process and the Conference will be grounded in a foundation of consistency, continuity and commitment, making sure that coalitions forged, opportunities identified, and promises made can lead to impactful results, replication and scaling up, ensuring that 2023 is indeed the springboard for catalyzing action for water security for all.
Both the preparatory process and the Conference itself will seek to shine the spotlight on commitments that create impact and set a clear agenda for the second half of the Decade and beyond until 2030, while promoting a longer-term approach and perspective, going beyond 2030. To scale up commitments including concrete actions and agreements, an effort will be made to promote successful and scalable solutions. (Water2023)
All Copyrigh
By China Three Gorges Corporation
Reprinting or mirroring is strictly prohibited without written authorization,
and offenders will be held liable.
