On March 22-24, an online UN conference “Water for Sustainable Development” was held to tackle the adress water crisis. The main outcome of the conference was the adoption of the Water Action Program, which includes more than 700 projects with budgets of tens of billions of dollars to transition from the global water crisis to sustainable water management.
Water Action Program
The Water Action Program brings together world governments, businesses, and civil society to address the global water crisis. More than 700 projects were annonced to provide safe drinking water for those who lack access and working to reduce water shortages and natural disasters caused by water.
Involvement of Ukraine
Ukraine was actively involved in the global process to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. Ukraine’s delegation was led by the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Ruslan Strelets. The Ukrainian delegation held 11 bilateral meetings with representatives of countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, the United Arab Emirates, Moldova, and the OSCE Secretariat.
The agreements include various forms of cooperation between Ukraine and other countries or organizations:
– strengthening cooperation with the UNECE for the development of river basin management plans and ratifying the Gothenburg Protocol to address air pollution;
– assisting the US Department of State with implementing legislation on ecosystem services.
– cooperation with the UK Department of the Overseas Territories to work on sustainable water management
– efforts to transform the Exclusion Zone in Ukraine into a global scientific hub for peaceful atom research in partnership with France.
-agreements to support other countries such as Moldova, Italy, and Portugal in areas such as air quality monitoring and sustainable water management.
– plans to exchange experiences with Slovenia on implementing EU legislation.
The adoption of the Water Action Program at the UN Conference “Water for Sustainable Development” is a significant decision towards sustainable water management. Ukraine’s delegation used the conference as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation with international partners.
