The takeaways from the UN World Water Conference

Context:

• The World Water Conference that was convened by the United Nations recently was the first UN conference on freshwater in almost 50 years.

About the Conference:

• Reason for the Conference- It was held in the context of serious environmental issues flooding, drought, the severity of climate change and a looming food crisis.
• Mid-term Review- The conference also marked a mid-term review of the Water Action Decade.
• Non- Binding-Nearly 164 governments and 75 multilateral organizations have made commitments. While the commitments embodied in the Water Action Agenda are voluntary and, therefore, legally non-binding

Key Outcomes:

• Water Action Agenda-The central outcome of the conference was the international Water Action Agenda, to which governments, multilateral institutions, businesses, and non­governmental organizations submitted over 670 commitments to address water security issues.
• SDG 6 Goals- To advance the water agenda by energizing existing programmes and projects, and inspiring water action to achieve the 2030 Agenda, in particular Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), which envisages the sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
• Expenditure-Meeting this target by 2030 (as envisioned by the SDG) will incur capital expenditures of $114 billion per year.