UN 2023 Water Conference
New York | Billions of people worldwide still live without safely managed drinking water and sanitation, even though access to both services has long been defined as a human right. Water and poverty are closely linked. Without water, there is no development, and without development, it is impossible to eradicate poverty.
The UN 2023 Water Conference is expected to adopt the Water Action Agenda as a main outcome representing voluntary commitments of countries and stakeholders to meet the global water-related goals and targets. The Conference will open on 22 March, World Water Day 2023.
UNEP is engaging with a number of high-level water commitments, or “game changers,” set to be announced in March including for transboundary water cooperation, for creating a new platform to consolidate water-related data and information, for advancing sustainable lake management and valuing lakes and other wetlands as nature-based solutions for climate, and for advancing source-to-sea management.
UNEP is co-leading on Interactive Dialogue 3: “Water for Climate, Resilience and Environment: Source to Sea, Biodiversity, Climate, Resilience and Disaster Risk Reduction”, where a strong recommendation is being made to raise the value of wetlands as nature-based solutions, and hosting a side event at the conference to highlight the role of lakes, and their conservation and protection, as a key nature-based solution.
UNEP will be launching its report Measuring Progress: Water-related ecosystems and the SDGs shortly before the conference.
The vision statement of the Water Conference calls, among others, for the identification of opportunities and innovative ways and means to accelerate progress on integrated water resources management.
Regarding registration for the UN Secretariat, Funds, Programmes, Regional Commissions, Specialized Agencies and other entities, please find more information on the UN 2023 Water Conference website here. Registration is currently open. More info: https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2023
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