2023 UN Water Conference - Side Event - Water for Nature, Nature for Water: Integrated Policy Solutions and Commitments for Sustainable Development and the Conservation, Restoration and Management of Freshwater Biodiversity

About the Event

The event will present international and national legal tools and local customary norms to mainstream the protection of rivers and other water-related ecosystems in decision-making and announce commitments for the Water Action Agenda.

An intergenerational stakeholder panel will debate how to improve the governance of freshwater biodiversity for the benefit of people and nature and for transformative change towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. Within the framework of policy coherence, the event will engage the audience to consider a multi-sectorial approach that incorporates legal strategies and mechanisms for the protection of aquatic and related ecosystems, including river and riparian corridors, in decision-making by governments, businesses, and civil society, at various levels and across multiple sectors.

Discussions will revisit the role of global conventions, transboundary cooperation agreements, national statutes, and local customary law; build on the Wuhan Declaration on Wetlands, the Sharm El-Sheik Implementation Plan, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework; and propose solutions to integrate the implementation of SDGs 6, 13 and 15, all of which require scaling up capacity development, effective laws, data and information, financing and innovation for the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of inland waters and their ecosystems. The event will also provide a platform for stakeholders to announce voluntary game-changing commitments for the Water Action Agenda, aimed at accelerating progress on the protection of water and nature leading up to the SDG Summit, IWRA’s XVIII World Water Congress (on the theme ‘Water for All: Harmony between Humans and Nature’), the 10th World Water Forum, the Summit for the Future, and beyond.

Coordinating Partners

• Ajemalebu Self Help (AJESH)
• Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA)
• Brazilian Knowledge Center on Biodiversity
• Brazilian Program on Biodiversity (PPBio)
• Conservation International
• Earth Law
• Ecuadorian Rivers Institute
• Environmental Law Institute
• Free-flowing Rivers Lab
• French Water Academy
• French Water Partnership
• Geneva Water Hub
• Global Pact Coalition
• Global River Protection Coalition
• Global Water Partnership
• Global Youth Biodiversity Network
• Government of France, French Biodiversity Agency (Office Français de la Biodiversité) (OFB)
• Government of Senegal, Ministry of Water and Sanitation
• Government of South Africa, Department of Water and Sanitation, Water Research Commission
• Government of South Africa, Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, South African National Parks
• Government of South Africa, Department of Water and Sanitation, Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency
• Hydrotechnical Society of France
• Indianapolis Zoo, Global Center for Species Survival
• International Network of Basin Organizations
• International Office for Water
• International Rivers
• International Water Resources Association (IWRA)
• IUCN, World Commission on Protected Areas, Freshwater Specialist Group
• IUCN, World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL), Water and Wetland Law Specialist Group
• Northern Arizona University School of Earth and Sustainability
• Overseas Academy of Sciences
• Ramsar Convention Secretariat
• Réseau des Chercheurs Italiens en France (RéCIF)
• SHOAL
• Synchronicity Earth
• The Nature Conservancy
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• University of Limoges (France), Observatoire des Mutations Institutionnelles et Juridiques (OMIJ)
• University of Mpumalanga (South Africa), Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, School of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Rivers of Life Research Programme
• Water Convention Secretariat
• Wetlands International
• World Youth Parliament for Water
• WWF