The UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell is calling on States to increase international action and policy-making that places water at the forefront of efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change, and harnesses water as a nature-based solution to the climate emergency. Addressing the General Assembly at the UN Water Conference at the end of March, he said: “We must work for water, for water to work for us.”

 

Climate change is putting water resources under pressure, impacting critical sectors such as agriculture and food security, energy, and health, and reversing gains towards sustainable development. Yet water is also an important carbon sink: mangrove soils can, for example, sequester up to three or four times more carbon than terrestrial soils. Protecting and expanding these types of environments can have the potential to have a dramatic impact on climate change, providing the basis for both mitigation and adaptation solutions to the climate emergency.

 

The UN 2023 Water Conference was held from 22 to 24 March in New York with participants making commitments to tackle the global water crisis. It confirmed that water issues truly unite the world, as a determined global community came together to make a difference not only for the future of water but for the future of the world.

 

The Water Action Agenda, one of the conference's key outcome, grew in size and scope as it progressed, with billions of dollars promised and  over 700 water-action commitments by States and business aimed at achieving a water-secure world. The conference also highlighted how water can drive equality, peace, and sustainability. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized that water should be at the centre of the global political agenda: “The commitments at this Conference will propel humanity towards the water-secure future every person on the planet needs.”

 

To complement the Water Action Agenda and to further drive the momentum, Stiell announced a commitment to create a water-climate nexus alliance – focused on climate resilient water systems - within the UN Climate Change secretariat. This alliance will apply a whole-of-secretariat approach to build on existing mandates and initiatives in promote a “Water for all sectors” perspective in formulating and implementing national adaptation plans, and in the priorities of countries’ nationally determined contributions.