Connecting the Rio Conventions through water: Three insights from HLPF

Water is where the Rio Conventions connect 

Climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation are often addressed through separate international processes. Yet throughout the discussion, speakers repeatedly returned to one common point: these challenges ultimately converge around water. 

Opening the session, the Netherlands’ Water Envoy Meike van Ginneken described water as central to all three Rio Conventions and emphasized that progress depends on reaching beyond the water community. Rather than treating water as a standalone issue, she argued that water should help connect climate, biodiversity and land restoration discussions. 

That message was echoed throughout the discussion. Brazil noted that climate, biodiversity and desertification may be negotiated in different rooms, but they meet in water. Ethiopia described water as the integrating element across the three conventions, while Egypt called it the “connective tissue” linking global environmental challenges. 

UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Water Retno Marsudi also emphasized the need to connect these agendas more deliberately. 

“We must continue to bring water into discussions about climate, biodiversity and land management, and vice versa.” 

With HLPF, the three Rio Convention COPs and the 2026 UN Water Conference all taking place within a short period, she described the current moment as an important political opportunity to strengthen those connections. 

Breaking silos is now the implementation challenge 

If there was one point on which speakers agreed, it was that the greatest barriers are no longer primarily technical. They are institutional. 

Despite growing recognition of water’s role across climate, biodiversity and land restoration, implementation remains fragmented. Separate ministries, planning processes, financing mechanisms and governance structures continue to make integrated action difficult. 

Susanne Halling Duffy, Director of World Water Week and Global Engagement at SIWI, highlighted this challenge in her opening remarks, noting that while water’s interlinkages are increasingly reflected in global commitments, implementation often remains fragmented across institutions, policy processes and financing mechanisms. 

The same theme resurfaced throughout the session. Japan argued that fragmentation within the water sector itself must be addressed before water can effectively connect the Rio Conventions. FAO highlighted that national climate, biodiversity, land and water strategies often still fail to align. Finland pointed to the need for better use of science-policy platforms, while WMO emphasized that nearly every climate hazard has a water dimension and requires approaches that bridge sectors and institutions. 

Together, these interventions pointed to an important shift. The question is no longer whether water connects these agendas, but how governance systems can better reflect those connections. 

Countries are beginning to put integration into practice 

While much of the discussion focused on future challenges, speakers also demonstrated that more integrated approaches are already emerging. 

Ireland highlighted how river basin management, climate adaptation, biodiversity and marine governance are increasingly being linked through national and regional planning. It also pointed to marine protected areas as an example of how one governance process can serve biodiversity, climate and water quality objectives at the same time. 

Brazil described how water sits at the centre of its National Adaptation Plan and how a national water management pact involving all 27 state governors is being used to strengthen shared governance. It also emphasized the importance of open data for identifying vulnerabilities and directing resources to the communities most at risk. 

Egypt outlined national coordination mechanisms that bring together water, climate, agriculture and planning under high-level political leadership, including dedicated water components in its climate and adaptation strategies. Japan, meanwhile, called for a broader international water framework that can help position water as an integrating principle across the Rio agendas. 

These examples suggest that connecting the Rio Conventions is no longer simply a question of international negotiations. Increasingly, it is becoming a question of how governments organize institutions, coordinate policies and invest across sectors. 

A rare window for action 

The discussion reflected an unusual convergence of global policy processes. Over the coming months, governments will meet at the three Rio Convention COPs, World Water Week and, later this year, the 2026 UN Water Conference. 

Taken together, these milestones create a rare opportunity to better connect climate, biodiversity, land restoration and water agendas before the 2026 UN Water Conference. 

For SIWI, the discussion reinforced a clear message: connecting the Rio Conventions is not only about recognizing the links between climate, biodiversity and land restoration. It is about creating the governance, partnerships and integrated approaches needed to translate those connections into coordinated action.