UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres closed the Water Conference by warning of the impending global water crisis and the need for a new direction in water management. According to him, all of humanity’s hopes for the future depend on charting a new course based on science to bring the water action agenda to life, putting it at the center of the political agenda. The conference demonstrated that water is the most precious common good that unites us all and plays a key role in health, sanitation, hygiene, disease prevention, peace, sustainable development, poverty, food, jobs, and prosperity.
The conference recorded nearly 700 commitments from NGOs, governments, and the private sector on the action agenda, from building toilets to restoring 300,000 km of human-impaired rivers, lakes, and wetlands by 2030. However, this is a non-binding program to address an increasingly pressing global problem, exacerbated by climate change, the unsustainable use of this vital resource, and pollution. According to the UN climate experts’ report, “nearly half of the world’s population” suffers “severe” water shortages for at least part of the year.
More than 2.3 billion people live in water-stressed countries. In 2020, some 2 billion people will lack access to safe drinking water, some 3.6 billion will have no sanitation facilities, and 2.3 billion will not be able to wash their hands at home. Guterres stressed that our hopes depend on innovative, inclusive, and action-oriented commitments to bring safe, sustainable, and smartly managed water and sanitation within reach of everyone on the planet. International cooperation is crucial to address a problem that is not horizontal, as the economic, social, or environmental sides cannot be addressed separately.
Young Dutchwoman Anniek Moonen of the Youth Climate Movement projected herself 27 years into the future to recall the wake-up call that this conference was for global water management that “changed to become more sustainable and fairer.” In conclusion, it is time to act and listen to the future that speaks to us.