We recognize that the climate problem has reached a tipping point. Wildfires and flash floods have wreaked havoc throughout the world in the previous few weeks. But how does the crisis affect global water concerns in particular? This is the major topic of discussion at this year's World Water Week.
World Water Week has traditionally articulated itself around a week-long conference. This year’s conference so far has been providing an opportunity to examine our relationship with natural resources such as water from a variety of perspectives, as well as to explore how we might improve circumstances for people all around the world.
World Water Week in a few words:
In 1991, the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) established World Water Week in Stockholm. The five-day event has established itself as the world's top water conference, covering water, development, and sustainability challenges, as well as associated international development concerns. This weeklong event strives to connect practice, science, policy, and decision-making.
Building resilience, the key topic for this year:
World Water Week has a new subject each year. Building Resilience Faster is the topic for 2021, and it covers the climate catastrophe as well as other pressing issues such as water shortages, food security, and the effect of the Covid-19 epidemic.
The key postulate for this week is the following: “Within a decade, we must rethink everything from how we grow food and generate energy to how we travel and use natural resources. This will require innovation on an epic scale and collaboration between people from all over the world with many different skills and backgrounds. Since all these transformations are closely linked to water, World Water Week has an important role to play as a meeting place for collaboration and learning”.
This is true for a great many developing countries, with more and more challenges presented by climate change in the form of altered climate patterns, and resource scarcity. Water is one of those key resources that will be severely impacted over the next decades, both in terms of clean access to water and on a broader scale, acidification of the ocean.
There is a real emphasis that needs to be made on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) actions in favor of vulnerable populations in the developing world. As such, the importance of actions such as the Climate Resilient and Inclusive Cities project cannot be emphasized enough. Pooling talents and knowledge to ensure no one is left behind for this upcoming challenge is going to be a key driver in building resilience.
There is a real need to build cross-sector collaboration around capacity-building both in terms of technical parameters, but also regarding sustainability on a material and financial level, as communities, local authorities, and state authorities all have their roles to play in resilience building. We at Pilot4DEV, also aspire to build such partnerships for a more sustainable future for us all.
