Multilateral Response with Increased Financing, Cooperation, Accelerated Action Needed to Thwart Growing Water Crisis, Secretary-General Tells Summit

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the fourth Asia-Pacific Water Summit, held in Kumamoto, Japan, today:

I thank Japan for hosting the fourth Asia-Pacific Water Summit and former Prime Minister Mr. Yoshiro Mori for championing this important initiative.  I am deeply grateful to His Majesty Naruhito for his lifelong leadership and advocacy on global water issues, including as Honorary President of the United Nations Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation and Patron of the Global Water Partnership.

Water is essential to every aspect of sustainable development.  Yet we are facing a growing water crisis and Sustainable Development Goal 6 is badly off track.  The triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution is worsening, putting severe pressures on this precious resource.

Half of the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity for at least some part of the year.  Droughts and heatwaves are becoming more intense and more frequent.  Sea-level rise is driving salt-water intrusion into coastal aquifers.  The loss of snowmelt water and glaciers further reduce water supplies.

Across Asia-Pacific — the region with the lowest per capita water availability in the world — the situation is especially troubling.  High population growth, unsustainable consumption and poor management all threaten the region’s clean water sources.  The ramifications run wide and deep.  Water scarcity reverses economic and social gains, undermines human rights, and threatens peace and security.

The water crisis demands a holistic, systemic, and multilateral response.  I see three priorities:  First, more financing: we must dramatically increase financing — public, private, and blended — for adaptation and mitigation of climate impacts, improved preparedness, and more sustainable water management, and fully address the dramatic needs of developing countries.

Second, better cooperation:  We must transform our silo-based approach to water management to better tackle water stress, combat climate change and enhance resilience.  We need all actors and sectors to work together to improve how we balance water needs of nations, communities, and households.

Third, accelerated action:  We are approaching the halfway point of the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development.  Next March, the United Nations Water Conference — the first United Nations conference on water since the 1970s — provides a unique opportunity to promote policy dialogue, exchange best practices and forge partnerships.

Your Summit is an important milestone as we together strive towards a more sustainable world.  I wish you every success.  Thank you.