Last week, from 25 to 27 September 2015, at the UN headquarters in New York, UN Member Countries adopted a new global programme for sustainable development for the planet, organized around 17 goals.
This agreement is the culmination of a joint effort made by governments, the civil society and other partners to build on the momentum of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG - 2002) to define a new and ambitious post-2015 development programme.
UN Member States will also have the opportunity to conclude a global agreement on climate change in December in Paris on the occasion of COP21.
See the United Nations website: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/
- See the text of the resolutions adopted on the new post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO), through its accreditation to special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) could attend the Summit and participate in many side events at the UN headquarters in New York;
INBO Secretariat was thus able to promote the " Paris Pact on water and adaptation to climate change in the basins of rivers, lakes and aquifers" whose signature is open to all interested organizations worldwide and which is ongoing until 20 November 2015.
- See the photos of INBO Secretariat at the UN General Assembly
INBO particularly welcomes the adoption of Objective 6:
"Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all"
6.1 By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all;
6.2 By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations.
6.3 By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.
6.4 By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity.
6.5 By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate.
6.6 By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes.
6.a By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies.
6.b Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management.
This objective includes the main guidelines which INBO has been promoting for over 20 years and opens up new perspectives for integrated basin management around the World including transboundary basins.
Inland freshwater is also directly or indirectly present in some more specialized objectives:
2.4 By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality.
3.3 By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases.
9.4 By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes.
11.b By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels.
12.2 By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources.
12.4 By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment.
13.1 Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.
13.2 Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning.
13.3 Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
13.a Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible.
13.b Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities.
15.1 By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements.
15.3 By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world.
15.4 By 2030, ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development. (see the conclusions of the International Conferences on "Water in Mountains" in Megève)
15.8 By 2020, introduce measures to prevent the introduction and significantly reduce the impact of invasive alien species on land and water ecosystems and control or eradicate the priority species.
17.9 Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation.
17.18 By 2020,(….) to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data (…).
"The Paris Pact on water and adaptation to climate change in the basins of rivers lakes and aquifers" will allow basin organizations and their partners to commit themselves at the COP21 in Paris, on the occasion of the official Day on "Water and Adaptation" on 2 December 2015, on the way to a practical implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal # 6 on water.
