Almost 50 countries sign up to Water for Climate Action declaration
Nations support an integrated approach to combat the causes and effects of the environmental crisis on water basins, but critics claim proposals don’t go far enough.
Launched by the Azerbaijani COP29 Presidency as part of this year’s Action Agenda, the Water for Climate Action declaration aims to introduce greater regional and international cooperation.
Water-related mitigation and adaptation measure should be aligned, with input from NDCs and NAPs, with signatories collaborating to improve the speed at which scientific evidence is produced, and the quality of research into the impact of climate change on water basins. Data sharing and new region-wide scenario modelling should be priorities.
WWF, Water.org, Water Equality, the Stockholm International Water Institute and the Islamic Development Bank are among the non-state actors to endorse the initiative so far. At an event attended by representatives from the EU, Finland, Gambia, Germany, the Netherlands, Moldova, UAE, UK and US, the Baku Dialogue on Water for Climate Action was also launched with the goal of greater integration and cooperation on water’s relationship with climate change, biodiversity, pollution and desertification.
‘Water is the link that flows between the climate, biodiversity and desertification crises. By enhancing collaboration between countries and between COPs, the Water for Climate Action initiative will allow us to act on all three fronts,’ said COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev.
‘As the impacts of the climate crisis become ever more extreme, it has never been more important for the world to manage freshwater ecosystems,’ said Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. ‘The Baku Dialogue on Water for Climate Action… will help strengthen water priorities within the global climate agenda.
However, although the declaration have been broadly welcomed, some commentators have already pointed out their shortcomings, particularly in relation to the absence of meaningful proposals around sanitation, hygiene and public health.
‘The COP29 Declaration on Water for Climate Action is an historic moment for global climate action on water, as countries agree to put water rightfully at the top of the climate agenda. Both too much water from rapidly increased flooding and too little water from prolonged droughts are tearing communities apart, yet water is only one piece of the puzzle,’ said Helen Rumford, Lead Policy Analyst for Climate at WaterAid UK
‘Water, as acknowledged in this historic declaration, is the provider of life but sanitation and hygiene are the sustainers. Without sanitation and hygiene, communities are left exposed to deadly disease as water sources become contaminated from extreme weather events,’ Rumford continued. ‘Government signatories to the Declaration must put water, sanitation and hygiene at the heart of adaptation plans. This must include providing ambitious finance to support adaptation, integrating this triad of essentials into all national action plans and investing in solutions led by those living this reality daily. Time is running out, action must move beyond promises on paper.‘
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Image: Ümit Yıldırım