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Tracking the United Nations 2023 Water Conference: Notable Moments and Key ThemesBy Clara Apt and Katherine FangPublished on March 22, 2023The U.N. Water Conference, co-hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands and taking place at U.N. Headquarters in New York, kicked off on March 22, World Water Day, and spanned three days. The conference is the first global summit of its kind in almost a half-century; the last was hosted in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 1977.
This year’s conference served as a midterm review of the Water Action Decade (2018-2028). U.N Secretary-General António Guteres had said the conference must result in a “bold Water Action Agenda that gives our world’s lifeblood the commitment it deserves.” The conference aimed to foster greater discussion on water-related issues, including access to potable water and sanitation, sustainable development, climate resilience, and international water cooperation.
The U.N. released its 2023 World Water Development Report on the first day of the conference. The summit also came on the heels of the publication of a synthesis report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body of leading climate experts that had convened in Switzerland last week. The synthesis report draws from several assessments, among them the body’s Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.
Over 2,000 individuals attended the conference. As the Secretary-General had urged, the summit closed with the adoption of the Water Action Agenda, containing nearly 700 commitments to safeguarding water. General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi thanked participants for $300 billion in pledges toward the Water Action Agenda during the conference, which he said had the “potential of unlocking at least one trillion dollars of socioeconomic and ecosystem gains.”
During the conference, Just Security followed the U.N. Water Conference’s notable moments. This page was updated to reflect meetings, speeches, and more.
Global Water Security 2023 Assessment, United Nations University, March 23, 2023
The United Nations World Water Development Report 2023: Partnerships and cooperation for water, UNESCO, March 22, 2023
Synthesis Report of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, IPCC, March 19, 2023
Triple Threat: How disease, climate risks, and unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene create a deadly combination for children, UNICEF, March 2023
Follow us on BlueSky X (Twitter) icon opens the Just Security page Follow us on Twitter Linkedin icon opens the Just Security page Follow us on Linkedin Threads icon opens the Just Security page Follow us on Threads Facebook icon opens the Just Security page Follow us on Facebook Print icon prints the current page Print this page Link icon saves the current page URL to your clipboard Copy this page URL to your clipboard URL copied to clipboard. Filed UnderClimate resilience, Climate security, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), United Nations (UN), Water Action Decade, Water Cooperation, Water Rights, Water SecurityAbout the AuthorsClara AptClara Apt (LinkedIn - X) is a Junior Emerging Tech and AI Fellow at Just Security and a Public Service Fellow and M.A. student in International Relations at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, specializing in technology and innovation.
Katherine Fang (@fang_kath) is a Student Staff Editor at Just Security. She is a graduate of Yale Law School, where she was a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow for New Americans. Prior to law school, she was a Fulbright Scholar in Jordan and worked in economics research at Harvard Business School.
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