Grigny Mayor Meets UN Secretary General in New York City: A Report on Essonne

Tuesday, March 21, 2023, the Mayor of Grigny (Essonne) Philip Rio met, with a delegation of mayors who are members of “United Cities and Local Governments”, the UN secretary general, Anthony Guterres To New York in the USA.

The city councilor participates in the United Nations Water Conference

The Essonne city councilor crossed the Atlantic Ocean not for tourism, but to participate, with the French delegation, in the United Nations Water Conferenceheld at UN Headquarters from 22 to 24 March.

And for good reason, in addition to his cap as mayor, Philippe Rio is the vice-president of Grand Paris Sud in charge of the water cycle and the president of the agglomeration’s public company which distributes water to users.

“Faced with the climate emergency, communities are in front line of the fight to defend the water as a fundamental human right and common good of humanity”, he underlined on social networks on the eve of World Water Day.

Philippe Rio will defend the local public reappropriation of water

Thus, as part of the special “United Cities and Local Governments” day scheduled for this Wednesday, Philippe Rio will take part in the debate: “Strengthen local and regional public service delivery to ensure equal access to water and sanitation”.

Then on Friday March 24, the mayor of Grigny will speak at the United Nations General Assembly, in a debate entitled “Water Leadership – Uniting for a Sustainable World”.

Two meetings during which the city councilor should discuss the collaboration of the Grand Paris Sud, Cœur d’Essonne, Val d’Yerres Val de Seine, Grand Orly Seine Bièvre conurbations, with the support of the Essonne departmental council and the Paris-Saclay conurbation, to set up the closed joint syndicate, “Eau du Sud Francilien” and get their hands on the water production owned by Suez which concerns a total of 1.4 million inhabitants.

“Fighting against the commodification of this common good of humanity”

Around the world, droughts are increasing, one in four people is deprived of drinking water and 800,000 people die each year from diseases attributed to unsafe water. This climate emergency forces us to create a new vision of water management.

To this end, the mayor of Grigny intends to highlight, before the concert of Nations, the “major role to play” by local authorities in the “local public reappropriation of water”, whether for its sanitation, its distribution or its production.

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