Video speech by Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management - The Road to the UN 2023 Water Conference

Speech | 22-03-2022

• Colleagues and friends,
• Today is our day: World Water Day.
• Water is a fundamental part of all aspects of life on our planet.
• It helps us grow our crops, cook our food, ship goods, grow our economies, stimulate development and stay healthy and clean. 
• Water is a cross-cutting issue and is essential to the achievement of many Sustainable Development Goals.
• It’s a key element in our challenges on climate change, energy, cities, the environment, food security, poverty, gender equality and health, and many others.
• Crystal clear: water is a close ally to humanity.
• Obviously, we have good reasons to be grateful.
• So we must ask ourselves: are we a good ally to water?
• With climate change profoundly affecting our economies, societies and environment, water has become a challenge too.
• Sufficient, clean and well-managed water is essential to achieving the internationally agreed water-related goals and targets, including those set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
• However, water not only presents us with challenges. It also presents us with a great opportunity.
• Water can be the dealmaker, the leverage point for a green economy, climate resilience and a more sustainable and inclusive world.
• This is why we need to create a watershed moment.
• And that’s why the Netherlands and Tajikistan will co-host the UN 2023 Water Conference at UN Headquarters in New York next year.
• Together with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and with support of UN-Water we aim to make this first UN Water Conference in almost 50 years a worldwide game changer.
• All UN member states will come together to talk about the future of water and quality of life for future generations
• Water is the stuff of life and the urgency of water-related challenges is nothing new. We’ve been discussing measures and action for many years.
• Many of the challenges were already known at the time of the last UN-Water Conference in 1977. And with climate change the urgency is only increasing.
• So, this conference will not just be about words:
• It will be action-oriented: we want to achieve tangible results through concrete actions and plans on the ground.
• It also will be inclusive: everyone will be involved in the Road to the UN 2023 Water Conference. No-one will be left behind!
• Our approach will be cross-sectoral: we will mobilise all relevant sectors to improve the way they manage and utilise water resources. These sectors need to bring their plans and actions to the conference.
• Colleagues and friends,
• We have 365 days to go, and a lot of work to do.
• With the challenges we face, our goals are:
  • to scale up finance and funding by governments, multilateral development banks and the private sector;
  • to scale up and replicate actions and best practices;
  • to develop water management innovations to get the world on track;
  • to create a framework for measuring the results of the conference;
  • to improve governance, increase solidarity and cooperation; and
  • to set an agenda beyond 2030.
• Today is our chance to bring together our hopes and ambitions. To discuss expectations, input and the way forward.
• What do you need?, What can you do to keep our planet a safe place to live? How do we unite and remain a close ally to water?
• For now, I’ll leave you with these questions in the capable hands of your moderator Sulton Rahimzoda.
• I’d like to close with something King Willem Alexander said when he led the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water & Sanitation: ‘Every day is World Water Day.’
• I’m looking forward to meeting with you soon. Have a productive day.