(United Nations) Faced with worsening water shortages, humanity in danger must “change course” in its management of this “precious common good”, the UN Secretary General pleaded on Friday at the end of of a conference that has not been seen for nearly half a century, which has raised some hope.
Health, sanitation, hygiene, peace, development, poverty, food security or simply drinking… Water, “the most precious common good”, must “be at the center of the global political agenda”, insisted Antonio Guterres.
“All of humanity’s hopes for the future depend, in some way, on a science-based course change to bring the Water Agenda to life” shaped by the commitments made at the this conference, he added, calling for “game-changing” efforts to ensure that everyone on the planet has water.
The world is off track for the 2030 water goals, including access to safe drinking water and sanitation for all.
So “now is the time to act”, launched Antonio Guterres, who on Wednesday vilified the “vampiric overconsumption” of humanity and the climate crisis it has caused.
From the construction of toilets to the restoration of 300,000 km of degraded rivers, nearly 700 commitments by NGOs, governments or companies have been recorded in this “action program” before and during the three days of this unprecedented conference since 1977 which hosted some 10,000 people.
But “about a third are likely to have a substantial impact” and less than a third have identified funding, said Charles Iceland of the World Resources Institute think tank.
However, it is “a good start”, he told AFP, giving the example of a project carried out by Germany on the management of the Niger River basin in nine countries it crosses.
“Probably the most fragile part of the world, where you’re starting to see violent water-related conflicts between certain groups,” he noted.
But water “is a huge problem, and one conference is not going to be enough”, he acknowledged, pleading for an annual repetition of the exercise.
“The future speaks to you”
Even if “everything is not rosy”, that “some commitments are not as strong” as hoped, “I am pleasantly surprised”, for his part declared to AFP Stuart Orr, of WWF.
“Often in these types of conferences, you hear a lot of promises […]there, I have the impression that it is different”, he added, describing the energy generated in the community of water actors until then “frustrated” by the lack of attention paid to this vital resource.
“The problem isn’t going to go away, it’s going to get worse, and I think that’s why everyone is starting to think it’s time to move on.”
In an attempt to give impetus, the conference pleaded for the appointment of a UN special envoy for water. Recommendation that Antonio Guterres will consider.
Without a dedicated UN agency or global treaty, “water has no home here at the UN”, noted Henk Ovink, envoy for water from the Netherlands, co-organizers of the Conference with Tajikistan.
In 2020, 2 billion people were still without safe drinking water and 3.6 billion did not have access to safely managed sanitation services, of which 494 million had to defecate in the open, according to the latest figures compiled by the UN-Water platform.
At least two billion people drink water contaminated with faeces, and 2.3 billion lack basic sanitation services. Conditions conducive to the spread of deadly diseases, cholera or dysentery.
While global warming increases droughts, UN climate experts (IPCC) also estimate that “about half the world’s population” suffers from “serious” water shortages for at least part of the year.
So in the form of a challenge, jumping back in time to 2050, a Dutch woman from the Youth Climate Movement described from the podium the “alarm signal” that this conference will have represented, when the global management of the water has changed to become “more sustainable, equitable and just”.
27 years ago, “the conference was a success because delegates, representatives and companies decided to join forces with the younger generations”, launched Aniek Moonen.
“The future speaks to you, don’t forget to listen”.