UN 2023 Water Conference

UN 2023 Water Conference

20-03-2023

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic at the UN 2023 Water Conference

The UN Water Conference will be held in New York from 22 to 24 March 2023. It is a key event for the global water community as it is the first UN Water event in 47 years and it aims to result in a bold Water Action Agenda.

In December 2016, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the resolution “International Decade (2018–2028) for Action – Water for Sustainable Development” to help put a greater focus on water during ten years. Water has a major impact on the livelihoods of millions of people, on food and energy security and on health and the environment. ‘Clean water and sanitation for everyone’ (SDG6) is one of the Sustainable Development Goals all countries in the world are aiming to achieve by 2030.

The UN Water Conference’s objective is to contribute to achieving the internationally agreed goals on water, while accelerating the speed at which this is done. It opens on World Water Day, 22 March 2023.

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic will actively participate at the UN 2023 Water Conference with specific recommendations for achieving Sustainable Development Goals in the areas of water, soil and climate.

Water is a pre-requisite for life, is involved in almost all processes of life on our planet, soil-forming factor, the medium in the Earth's climate system within the water cycle. The access to water is a condition for food production, preservation and restoration of biodiversity. Water, together with soil, plants and landscape structure, co-creates the hydrology of the basin and its climate response. The method of land use determines the level of the country's vegetation cover, soil health, ecological stability and the intensity of biodiversity. By reshaping the landscape, we use its productive as well as non-productive ecosystem functions. However, by changing land use, we also change the hydrological, climatic and biotic parameters of land and landscape. We influence the circulation of water in the country and thus the large and small water cycle, as well as the cycle of nutrients, carbon, flows, transformation and subsequent distribution of solar energy in the country. It is a complex connection of natural, cultural and economic processes at the same time, therefore there is a need for a holistic understanding and connection of these processes in the NEXUS system.

With balanced approach to the management and use of the country's natural resources, we can maintain the productive capacity of the land and at the same time preserve ecosystems and water supply, as it is renewed from rainwater and underline soils complex functions in the distribution of rainwater and solar energy in the country. With this approach, we can achieve the SDG´s (https://sdgs.un.org/goals).   

State Secretary Martin Kováč and Water Resource Advisor to the Prime Minister of Slovakia Michal Kravčík will attend the UN 2023 Water Conference. In cooperation with international team of advisors, they prepared recommendations in the form of „Water for Climate Healing – A New Water Paradigm White Paper“.

White Paper follows the Ministry's efforts to develop a broad professional dialogue within the Agricultural knowledge base NEXUS and the Concept of "Soil - Carbon and Water bank of the Landcape" for an integrated approach to the management of water resources and soil at the level of municipalities, regions, basins and country. The White Paper has implications for global cooperation, adopting and implementing effective solutions at local, regional and national levels requires international knowledge. White Paper is an important innovative contribution within the framework of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP EU), as well as within the strategies of innovation, research and development of the circular bio-economy. Document is built on scientific knowledge and data from more than three decades of applied research and practice in the framework of sustainable management of soil and water in the country, while reducing climate risks.

The conference consists of 6 plenary sessions and 5 interactive dialogues. Parallel to the 6 plenary sessions, 5 special events are being organised. State Secretary will address during the Interactive Dialogues and Slovak delegation will meet with numerous foreign partners.

More information about UN 2023 Water Conference:

https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2023



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