SIWI Urges Negotiators to Include Water in Global Climate Agreement

World Water Week closed on Friday Aug. 28, with the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) urging climate negotiators to ensure that water is thoroughly integrated in the global 2015 climate agreement.

World Water Week—themed Water for Development—had 3,300 participants from 125 countries, representing governments, academia, civil society, international organizations, the private sector and many others. Both World Water Week and Stockholm Water Prize celebrated its 25th jubilee.

“Water is what binds together all the aspects of climate change,” said SIWI Executive Director Torgny Holmgren. “Climate change is water change.”

The impact of climate change is felt through water, with flooding, erratic rain patterns, prolonged droughts, and other extreme weather events.

“If waters are not managed properly and water resources management is not well integrated in climate efforts, climate impacts will have a significant effect on our societies—it is a challenge for all countries,” said Sweden’s Minister for Climate and Environment and Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Åsa Romson.

“Water security is probably the greatest human challenge of this century," said Dr. Benedito Braga, secretary of state for sanitation and water resources for the state of São Paulo in Brazil and president of the World Water Council.

In a passionate plea to negotiators in Paris, the president of Marshall Islands, Christopher J .Loeak, said he was not sure if he dared hope for the strongest possible wording in the climate agreement, but said he expected the world to make a historic pledge that would not only save his country, but also the world.

“It is of utmost importance to integrate and address water in the global climate discourse and this World Water Week has been an important platform for such collaborative discussions towards Paris,” Romson said.

Source: Stockholm International Water Institute