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3 Apr 2022 DAKAR, Senegal

Lessons In Financing City Wide Inclusive Sanitation

In order to leave no-one behind, sanitation solutions need to offer a range of different technologies as well as different business models: including sewered and unsewered and centralised or decentralised services.

8 Feb 2021 WAGENIGEN, Netherlands

Ramsar Convention “Has Not Been Able To Keep Up With Growing (Wetlands) Threats"

From wetland rejuvenation along the Ganga to beach-cleaning in Senegal, the 50th World Wetlands Day saw several initiatives launched in recognition of the value to nature and humankind of the globe’s wetlands. In a 29 January statement released to mark the occasion, Wetlands International, the body that coordinates and manages the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, laments that, despite significant achievements, the convention “has not been able to keep up with the growing threats and challenges that face wetlands...

3 Feb 2021 THE HAGUE, Netherlands

Water Must Be Driving Force In Climate Change Adaptation Policies

Water challenges featured on the agenda as one of the “action themes” at January's Climate Adaptation Summit 2021, hosted virtually by the Netherlands, with more than 30 world leaders stating unequivocally their firm support of climate adaptation action, and marking a return to the world climate stage of the United States...

17 Dec 2020 GENEVA, Switzerland

Disastrous Climate Damage Continued In 2020

The World Meterological Organization (WMO) assesses that 2020 is on track to be the second warmest year in the most recent decade, with the warmest six years being since 2015.Preliminary information, based on data collected from January to October 2020, shows how high-impact events such as floods, extreme heat and wildfires affected millions of people...

1 Oct 2020 THE HAGUE, Netherlands

Human Rights And Water Security In Our Uncertain Times

The latest in a series of guest columns written for OOSKAnews and The Water Diplomat by participants in different parts of the international water community. In this article, Tobias Schmitz discusses human rights, water security and climate change in advance of a 13 October UNDP-SIWI Water Governance Facility high-level webinar on the subject...

10 Sep 2020 GENEVA, Switzerland

Catastrophic Decline In Freshwater Biodiversity Requires Urgent Global Action

Humanity’s destruction of nature is having catastrophic impacts on wildlife populations, human health and all aspects of our lives, reveals WWF’s Living Planet Report 2020. This loss of biodiversity is not only an environmental issue but a development, economic, global security, ethical and moral one too...

5 Nov 2019 GENEVA, Switzerland

High Mountain Summit Calls For Action On Ecosystems Essential To Global Water, Food Energy Security.

A "High Mountain Summit", convened by the World Meterological Organization (WMO), has issued a call for action to protect the earth’s glaciers, snow, permafrost and associated ecosystems that provide water for over half the world’s population.The three-day summit in Geneva was called in order to address the effects of climate change on the cryosphere: modifications to biological diversity, retreat of mountain glaciers, flash floods and changes in runoff...

15 Mar 2019 NAIROBI, Kenya

UN-Habitat Says World Can Learn From China's Success In Rehabilitation Of Urban Rivers

The government of China's actions in restoring urban rivers have been described by the UN Human Settlement Program (UN-Habitat) as a good example for other countries where rapid development of cities has impacted the health of fresh water bodies.At the launch of a new publication on urban river rehabilitation in China, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of UN-Habitat said, "I applaud the efforts of the Government of People's Republic of China in developing technical, managerial and financial solutions to improve the water quality of urban rivers...

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6 Mar 2019 NEW YORK NY, United States

"UN Decade On Ecosystem Restoration" Will Commence in 2021. No, We Don't Really Understand The Wait Either.

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly has declared 2021-2030 as a UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The aim of the program is to restore degraded ecosystems as a measure to fight climate change and enhance food security, water supply and biodiversity."We are pleased that our vision for a dedicated Decade has become reality," said Lina Pohl, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador, a regional restoration leader...

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25 Jan 2019 NAIROBI, Kenya

UNEP Calls For Stronger Enforcement Of Environmental Laws

A UN Environment (UNEP) global assessment of environmental rule of law has found weak enforcement of laws to be a global trend that is exacerbating environmental threats, despite prolific growth in environmental laws and agencies worldwide over the last four decades.Despite a 38-fold increase in environmental laws put in place since 1972, failure to fully implement and enforce these laws is one of the greatest challenges to mitigating climate change, reducing pollution and preventing widespread species and habitat loss, the UNEP report found...

18 Jul 2018 NEW YORK, NY

UNEP And Google Announce Collaboration On Mapping Water-Related Ecosystems

UN Environment (UNEP) and Google announced a global partnership July 16 that aims to expand what the world knows about the impacts of human activity on global ecosystems.Long term, the partnership hopes to establish a platform for open-source data and analysis of the UN Sustainable Development Goals...

14 Sep 2017 SHANGHAI, China

Investment in Drylands Essential for Water

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has called for investment in “Drylands” to protect future food supplies and mitigate and adapt to climate change.Speaking ahead of a conference of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Ordos, China, Inger Andersen, IUCN’s Executive Director said “Species and ecosystems below and above ground are the engines of life in drylands, whose importance in sustaining billions of lives around the world is often underestimated…drylands secure food and water supplies for local people, mitigate climate change and reduce the impacts of disasters...