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What are the most important lessons from the UN 2023 Water Conference? And how will it feed into World Water Week and other international processes? We asked World Water Week’s Acting Director Susanne Halling Duffy and Thomas Rebermark who led the SIWI delegation to the UN conference in New York.
What do you take with you from the first UN conference on freshwater since 1977?
Thomas: What has really impressed me is the level of commitment we have seen. By that I don’t just mean the sheer number of commitments made to the Water Action Agenda – more than 600 – but also how open people are to systemic change. We need both concrete, immediate commitments and more profound transformations. Cross-sectorial collaboration is key in these processes.
Susanne: I’ve had so many interesting conversations here in New York, people seem very eager to get to work and do something. But there’s of course always a risk that this will wear off, so we need to build on that momentum. World Water Week in August is the place to continue the important conversations from the past week.
Which trends have you spotted that you think will grow in the coming year?
Susanne: A big topic at the UN conference and the related New York Water Week has been how to work across sectors and include as many perspectives as possible. This is also important for World Water Week – we are already attracting a more and more diverse set of participants and continue to welcome new groups. We’re engaging more participants by offering free online participation thanks to the support of our partners and session organizers.
Another growing discussion revolves around how we can communicate the importance of water in a new way. This is not least relevant to drive innovation and societal transformations, the topic of World Water Week 2023. We’re living in an era of rapid change and great scientific advances in our understanding of water. But that needs to be communicated for change and innovation to happen.
Thomas: I have seen a rapidly increasing understanding that we must cooperate and work holistically, across all types of boundaries, to achieve positive change. This has been reflected in the great interest for the source-to-sea approach and for nature-based solutions. I have also seen a growing number of examples indicating that mitigation and adaptation really go hand in hand as part of smart climate action. And I have noticed an increasing engagement from the private sector, which is very promising for the years to come.
How will you take this forward?
Thomas: For us at SIWI, this does not change anything fundamental. Much of the trends and understandings that we now see are processes and aspects that we as an organization have long-since advocated for and actively supported. We therefore embrace the fact that these efforts are proving fruitful and that these developments are gaining traction. We commit to keep using our convening power to bring stakeholders together and facilitate concrete action towards a sustainable and water-wise future.
Susanne: We know that many people coming to World Water Week this year will have made commitments to the Water Action Agenda and want to follow up on the UN 2023 Water Conference. So, we will do our best to ensure that World Water Week is a meeting place to continue that conversation but also to solve concrete problems and start collaborations. This is also a SIWI commitment to Water Action Agenda – World Water Week should be an annual moment for participants to review, align and accelerate action on the commitments registered in the Water Action Agenda and to share solutions that can be upscaled.
Follow SIWI to New York
On 22-24 March, the United Nations headquarters in New York will host a historic conference on freshwater. SIWI will play an active role to ensure that countries finally tackle the urgent water crisis and deliver on commitments already made.
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