UN opens conference on water security

The United Nations opened its first conference on water security in more than half a century on Wednesday, with a plea to governments to manage one of humanity's shared resources.

Half of the world's population depends on unsafe drinking water, while half lacks basic sanitation, according to the UN. Nearly three quarters of the recent disasters have been related to water.

The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the lifeblood is being drained by the vampiric overconsumption and unsustainable use, and evaporating it through global heating.

Access to clean drinking water and sanitation is part of the 17 point to-do list that the UN has set for sustainable development, along with ending hunger and poverty, achieving gender equality and taking action on climate change.

The three-day conference starting on Wednesday in New York is not intended to produce the kind of binding agreement that emerged from Paris in 2015, or on nature protection in Montreal in 2022. Guterres said that governments needed to create political momentum and ensure equitable water access for all people while conserving this precious resource, and work with their neighbours to manage it, because it must result in a bold Water Action Agenda that gives our world's lifeblood the commitment it deserves.

I am proud to announce that the United States has committed $49 billion to equitable, climate-resilient, water and sanitation investments at home and around the world, according to the US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

She said that this money would help create jobs, prevent conflicts, protect public health, reduce the risk of famine and hunger, and allow us to respond to climate change and natural disasters and give details on how much money would be spent.

Scientists, economists and policy experts grouped together by the Netherlands in the Global Commission on the Economics of Water in the Netherlands recommended phasing out some US $700 billion in agricultural and water subsidies it says are environmentally damaging.

It endorses partnerships between development finance institutions and private investors to improve water systems.