The second week of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt began with a focus on the link between water and global warming, making it the first COP that includes water on its official agenda.
“This is the water COP”, said Csaba Kőrösi, President of the United Nations General Assembly, in his remarks to a high-level plenary on 15 November at the summit, formally known as the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, expressing appreciation to the host country for highlighting the critical ties between water and climate.
Climate change is disrupting the Earth’s natural water cycle, resulting in flooding and droughts, displacing millions of people and negatively affecting access to safe drinking water and agriculture.
Recalling that he convened more than 1,200 scientists, civil society organizations, youth representatives, and many others for consultations on 24 October in New York, the Assembly President said they identified game-changing ideas that have the potential to transform current water policies and sustainable development as a whole.
“Thanks to science, we have now the toolkit for turning our commitments into reality,” he said. “Let’s ask ourselves. When this conference ends, will this glass be half full or half empty?”
Drawing attention to the two initiatives launched at COP27 – the Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation (FAST) and the Action for Water Adaptation and Resilience (AWARE), he stressed: “The glass will be full when we fulfil our pledges and use the solutions we already have.”
Mr. Kőrösi also spoke at an opening session on 14 November, designated as “Water Day”, stressing the critical need to re-establish an integrated water management information system that combines separate databases for water, climate, and weather.
-Listen to UN podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/unradio/cop27-manels-mansplaining-and-mary-robinson
The outcomes of the many consultations on the link between water and climate at COP27 will feed into the UN Water Conference to be held on 22-24 March 2023 at the UN Headquarters.
Water and climate are cross-cutting issues, interlinked with biodiversity. Biodiversity Day on 16 November at COP27 examines the link between climate change and biodiversity, exploring nature and ecosystem-based solutions, in the lead-up to the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) from 7 to 19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada.
Links:
UN 2023 Water Conference: https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2023
UN-Water: https://www.unwater.org/
SDG Goal 6 (Water and Sanitation): https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/
Resources for COP27:
