At the end of the water conference in New York, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on countries to fight against drinking water shortages. All hope for humanity would depend on charting a new course: “It depends on realizing the landmark inclusive and action-oriented commitments made by Member States and others at this conference.”
He was alluding to numerous individual, non-mandatory measures and projects that states, non-governmental organizations and the free economy, among others, had promised at the conference over the past two days. “It means reducing the pressure on our water system,” Guterres said. Alternative food systems would also need to be developed to reduce the unsustainable use of water in food production and agriculture. Strategies in the areas of water, ecosystems and climate must be intertwined in order to reduce greenhouse gases – from resilient infrastructure, water pipes and wastewater treatment plans to an early warning system for natural disasters.
The UN water conference has been running since Wednesday. It was the first major UN meeting since 1977 to deal exclusively with the subject of water. The United Nations had sounded the alarm in the face of a global water crisis: the water cycle had been broken, ecosystems destroyed and groundwater contaminated. Two billion people, one in four, do not have adequate access to clean water. And the global shortage of drinking water will continue to increase. Minister of Agriculture Norbert Totschnig (ÖVP) spoke for Austria in his speech to the General Assembly for a UN special envoy.
The World Resources Institute, which analyzed the conference, concluded that the New York meeting was a needed wake-up call on the issue of water. A number of the voluntary commitments could mean a turning point and influence the development towards drinking water.