The approximately 10,000 representatives of government, business and civil society promised, among other things, the construction of toilets and measures for dry regions. Several countries in Africa and Latin America, for example, want to restore 300,000 kilometers of rivers and 350 million hectares of wetlands by 2030. According to the UN, this is the largest initiative to date to save freshwater ecosystems. In view of increasing water scarcity, these are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world.
A representative of the environmental organization WWF told AFP that not everything was rosy with the decisions, but many commitments were very good. Apparently, the realization is slowly gaining ground that water supply problems will only get worse in the future. The World Resources Institute made a similar statement. Even if there were financial commitments for less than a third of the targets, the voluntary commitments are a good start. At the end of the three-day deliberations, UN Secretary-General Guterres once again called for decisive action.
This message was broadcast on Deutschlandfunk on March 25, 2023.
