For the first time in nearly 50 years, the United Nations convened a conference dedicated to water that attracted thousands of attendees. While the UN 水 Conference was not intended to have a negotiated outcome, representatives from member states, 公民社会, business and NGOs made over 700 voluntary commitments to the 水行动议程 aiming to accelerate progress toward Sustainable 发展 Goal (SDG) 6 and other water-related SDGs.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ opening 声明 reflected the urgency of the water crisis: “水 is in deep trouble; we are draining humanities lifeblood through vampiric overconsumption and unsustainable use. And evaporating it through global heating, we have broken the water cycle…”. He continued by emphasizing the importance of governance and finance, two themes that were picked up by the Global Commission on the Economics of 水, in their pre-conference publication Turning the Tide: A Call to Collective Action, which puts forward a seven-point call to collective action, including the need to manage the water cycle as a common good, stop underpricing water and phasing out US$ 700 billion of subsidies in agriculture and water each year.
Only 12 heads of state were present at the conference, which together with a lack of any binding conference outcomes demonstrates that there is still some way to go for water to be prioritized on the political agenda. 然而, business was well represented with numerous sessions addressing private sector collective action on the 水行动议程. A Joint Statement from the International 水管理 was put forward to demonstrate alignment amongst a number of organizations (including WBCSD) that support corporate water stewardship activities.
WBCSD的贡献集中于 accelerating corporate accountability, ambition and action for water and provided opportunities for member companies to showcase their commitments and actions.
Corporate accountability for freshwater
While government action to enact the policies necessary to drive progressive business action is often slow, companies must set ambitious water targets, demonstrating progress and disclosing water-related risks and opportunities in a robust and transparent way.
To guide companies in navigating this emerging accountability system, WBCSD launched the Freshwater Accountability Accelerator 在会议之前, set up to guide companies through this emerging accountability system for water.
During a side event convened by WBCSD, the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) shared water insights from their recent 自然基准, which assessed the performance of over 400 companies. 的 analysis revealed that a mere 13% of companies have set time-bound targets to reduce water withdrawal in their operations and reported against them, only 16% have disclosed their dependency on water-stressed areas, and less than 5% have disclosed the proportion of withdrawals made from these water-stressed areas.
This highlights the importance of tools such as the Freshwater Accountability Accelerator, which can help companies take action. With the release later this year of the first Science Based Targets (SBT) for nature methods 和 Taskforce for 自然-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)建议, both of which include water in their scope, an accountability system for water is starting to emerge.
对水质有更大抱负
水 quality issues often receive less attention than water quantity in public policy and corporate action. For this reason, in 2020, WBCSD launched a new initiative called “Wastewater Zero: A call to action for business to raise ambition for SDG 6.3”. This initiative highlighted the impact of untreated wastewater on biodiversity (being a key driver for biodiversity loss), 气候(7-10% of human induced methane emissions come from untreated wastewater) and water security (insufficient reuse and recycling of wastewater).
At the Conference in New York, WBCSD launched two new tools to support business action on water: the 污水影响指引 和 污水影响评估工具. 在一起, these tools will help businesses assess and identify high-impact locations for action and prepare them for the water quality methods of the forthcoming SBTs for nature.
Public-Private partnerships driving local action
In contrast to the low number of heads of state present, Mayors and local leaders were present at the Conference in high numbers, signaling the urgency for action at a local level. 的 50L 首页 Coalition announced a new phase for initiatives to accelerate water innovation in cities. This included funding a pilot program in Los Angeles, California to demonstrate water and energy innovations in homes, and collaboration in tactical pilots to drive water conservation and policy updates in Phoenix, 亚利桑那州. Coalition co-chair Kate Gallego, the Mayor of Phoenix, 亚利桑那州 said: “We are proud to collaborate with 50L 首页 Coalition members to advance the innovations needed to prepare for our future, and to partner with other cities to quickly scale emerging solutions.”
In his closing remarks, Csaba Kőrösi, the President of the General Assembly, reaffirmed the nine outcomes of the conference. 的se include the need to integrate water and climate policy at national and global levels by 2030 和 development of a Global 水 Information System to support water, 气候与土地管理. Following calls for action from the Secretary-General, the UN also committed to create the institutional architecture for the support of the required transformation, 根据SG, which will be managed by a UN envoy for water and supported by an independent scientific and practice panel.
进展和下一步
In 2022, a significant development occurred as inland waters were included in the final text of the 全球生物多样性框架 (GBF), and water was included in the UNFCCC CoP cover decision for the first time.
的 progress achieved so far is set to continue through this year, with events such as the UN High-level Political Forum in July 和 SDG Summit in September driving momentum and action.
展望未来, the next UN Summit on water is scheduled for 2025 and will evaluate the implementation of the Conference and 水行动议程 outcomes. We are undoubtedly seeing some progress in water moving up the political agenda, 尽管缓慢且不完整. 在这样的背景下, we need to ensure that business actions are driven by science-based targets and progress is reported in a consistent and transparent way to give confidence to governments, 公民社会 and investors that business is making a clear contribution to sustainable water management.
在这一年里, WBCSD will continue to develop the Freshwater Accountability Accelerator, ensuring alignment with emerging frameworks such as SBTs for nature and TNFD. 另外, the Wastewater Zero initiative will aim to address important water quality components that are currently not included in the scope of the SBTs for nature freshwater methods.
To find out more and engage in these initiatives, please reach out to Una Harcinovic at harcinovic@ngskmc-eis.net
