UN Water Conference Panel Discussion

In March, the UN held the 2023 Water Conference, the first High-Level Conference on water of its kind to be held in over 40 years. Join us as we host a session on the main takeaways from the conference and the future of UK expertise in the international water sphere.

Held at the UN Headquarters in New York and hosted by the Netherlands and the Republic of Tajikistan, over 10,000participants attended the two day conference, comprised of world leaders, civil society, industry, academia and activists. The main premise of this event centring around urgently scale up action around a looming water crisis and to open the discourse surrounding equitable access to water for all. Discourse at the conference ranged around the urgency of the crisis and its role in exacerbating stress on migration, climate and conflict, as well as its value in alleviating poverty and food security.

Access to safe water and sanitation is encompassed by Sustainable Development Goal 6 and one of the most basic funeral human needs for health and wellbeing. Despite this, over 2 billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water and 40% of the world’s population are affected by water scarcity. Decades of misuse, mismanagement, overuse and contamination of water supplies have greatly aided water stressors. Alongside this, challenges are growing in degraded water-related ecosystems, the impact of climate change on water and underinvestment in sustainable water infrastructure and sanitation.

In order to tackle these issues we need sustainable water management systems and infrastructure, an integrated approach to water systems and capacity building on all levels. Join us as we host a session with leading experts in the water sector to explore the outcomes of this conference and the implications it has for the future of the water sector and the planet. We will be hearing from Cate Lamb, Global Director of Water Security at CDP, Andrew Roby, Senior Water Security Advisor at FCDO, alongside senior water specialists from Amy Syvrud and Noah Kaiser from Ricardo Energy &Environment and Andy Blackhall, Managing Director of the Water Research Council.

This session is sure to provide valuable insights on the impact of this conference and its connotations for the future of the UK’s role in being a global leader in the water sector. The event will be divided between the panel session and a Q&A as we invite attendees to join in the discourse as we discuss the creation of a sustainable and equitable future for people and the planet.

‍