UNITED NATIONS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) expressed its joy on Friday that the UN 2023 Water Conference is bringing water issue to the top of the global agenda.
"This conference has finally swept water to the top of the global agenda, flooding the halls of the UN with calls for action, and waking the world up to the central role of water and freshwater ecosystems in driving sustainable development," WWF's freshwater manger Stuart Orr said in a statement emailed to journalists.
"We need radical, transformational action on water to tackle the world's worsening water, nature and climate crises but there has never been the necessary momentum for change - until now," he said.
"We cannot meet the most basic needs of future generations without safe water. And we cannot provide resilient water without restoring nature," said Orr, adding that "now is the time to solve the crises of our generation together, all at once. We need to stop ignoring the devastating loss of nature and start restoring rivers and wetlands."
Commenting on the UN 2023 Water Conference, he said that "there has never been such a collective commitment to change, such a groundswell of support for a new approach to water and to scaling up investment in healthy rivers, lakes and wetlands - although business needs to do much more collectively and the financial world must invest more in initiatives that work with nature."
"This conference has shown the world that it is possible to finally come together and commit to reversing decades of failure on water and the ongoing destruction of our freshwater ecosystems," he added.
The Freshwater Challenge was a big hit during the water conference, Orr stressed.
A coalition of governments on Thursday launched the Freshwater Challenge - the largest ever initiative to restore degraded rivers, lakes and wetlands, which are central to tackling the world's worsening water, climate and nature crises.
Talking about water action, Orr underscored that "commitments today are worthless if they don't translate into real action tomorrow."
"Governments and companies need to stand up in six months' time at the World Water Week in Stockholm and in a year's time on World Water Day 2024 and prove that they have turned their pledges and promises into practice - that this was not just a blue-washing, talking shop."
Orr emphasized that "water needs to remain at the top of the global agenda - not just in regular global water summits but at the heart of the G7, G20, Climate and Nature COPs, and conferences on food, energy, business, finance, and peace and security. Because this conference has shown that water is at the heart of everything, everywhere."
"We believe that the pressure for action is now stronger than it has ever been and that people could look back at this event and say that was when the tide turned. And if it turns for water, the tide will also turn for global efforts to tackle climate and nature crises, and finally give future generations a fighting chance," he said. ■
