Honduras is scrambling to solve ever worsening water shortages in its capital, Tegucigalpa. The answer lies in restoring and conserving the country’s forests.
The water challenges confronting the western United States as a result of climate change and declining water supply, are similar to those of other countries, and if the international community takes urgent action on the outcomes of the recent UN Water Conference, there could be a big payoff.
Unless drastic changes are made the future of water looks bleak.
On World Meteorological Day, held on 23 March, Conor Lennon spoke to Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation, Lindsey Blodgétt, Former President of the World Youth Parliament for Water, and Maarten van Aalst, Director of the Dutch Royal Meteorological Institute, about the changes that societies need to make, in order to cope with the changing climate in the coming years.
Water doesn’t respect borders, and 153 countries share basins. Water scarcity is increasing, and so is the potential for conflict: “Water for Cooperation” is one of the key themes of this year’s conference.
On this week’s episode Conor Lennon from UN News speaks to Suleiman Adamu, Nigeria’s Federal Minister of Water Resources, and Sonja Köppel, the Secretary to the UN Water Convention.
This year’s UN World Water Development Report warned of a global water crisis, unless international cooperation is rapidly stepped up.
On this week’s episode of The Lid Is On, recorded the day after the release of the study on 21 March, Conor Lennon speaks to Richard Connor, the editor-in-chief of the report, Kristin Meyer from the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and Neil Dhot, from the International Federation of private water operators.
The UN 2023 Water Conference closed on Friday with the adoption of the Water Action Agenda, a “milestone” action plan containing almost 700 commitments to protect “humanity’s most precious global common good”.
As water scarcity and the potential for conflicts between countries over resources increase, the UN is urging more nations to sign up to the Water Convention, designed to reduce tensions and improve international cooperation.
On the penultimate day of the United Nations Water Conference, two UN agencies announced several potentially game-changing commitments that could enable countries to quickly gather data on the state of their water resources, and boost efficiency of water use for more sustainable agriculture practices.
The UN Water Conference has been hailed as an opportunity to ramp up international cooperation to address water issues and avoid a looming crisis. Experts and UN officials agree that stronger partnerships are key to finding lasting solutions.
A lack of clean water is threatening the well-being and “cultural identity” of the people of Samoa and other Pacific Island nations according to the UN’s most senior representative across the region.
