Key Conclusions from the
World Water Week in Stockholm 2005
Presentation at IPM, CSD- 13
Mr. Johan Kuylenstierna, Project Director
Stockholm International Water Institute
Thank you Mr Chairman,
Your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues,
I would first like to express my sincere gratitude to you for providing the
Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) with an opportunity to present
this short summary with some of the key conclusions from the 2004 World
Water Week in Stockholm.
The week was organised for the 14th time, in August 2004 with some 1400
participants from more than 100 countries, representing scientists, governmental
organisations, NGOs, the private sector, and international organisation . Close to
40% of the participants came from developing countries . The theme was
"Drainage Basin Management: Regional Approaches for Food and Urban
Security", linking water issues with food production and rural and urban
development.
We have distributed a short summary document that we hope can provide some
useful and thought-provocative inputs to the deliberations this week . It contain
two sets of conclusions;
t1
1 . A selected number of conclusions and recommendations from the seminar
focusing on the CSD process organised jointly with the Norwegian Ministry
of Environment and;
2. A selected number of key conclusions from the World Water Week as a
whole.
I would like to stress that the Week does not present a written joint statement or
a set of agreed recommendations . With more than 20 seminars, 10 workshops,
side events, plenary sessions, debates and exhibitions, it is an open forum where
thoughts are shared and discussions are wide and open . Thus, SIWI takes the
full responsibility of the conclusions and recommendations presented here .
As my intervention should be short, I will briefly highlight a few key points :
. . . One. Water and sanitation is key to sustainable development . Decision
makers need to be convinced that investment in the water and sanitation
sector and sound water resources management represents an engine for
economic growth, linked as they are to wider macro economic aspects . It is,
in the end, an issue of a country's capacity to eradicate poverty and sustain
development. Investments therefore need to be increasingly discussed as
economic opportunities rather than just costs .
. . . Two. MDGs and PRSPs need to be integrated nationally so that water,
sanitation and poverty, but also all other MDG targets that depend so much
on water, are addressed comprehensively . The cross-cutting aspects of water
is critical.
. . . Three. With the world's urban population expected to reach 5 billion in 2030,
a 66% increase compared with 2000, water supply and sanitation and related
resources management challenges in urban areas must be tackled - now. In
particular the fundamental role of water services for the livelihood of women
and girls must be in focus . Water and sustainable sanitation planning need to
be better integrated into physical urban planning processes . Strategies for the
decentralisation of political and economic decision making needs to be
promoted, as it provides opportunities for institutional change, increased
democratisation, transparency, participation and a greater voice for civil
society. Land and water rights for illegal settlements, critical to encourage
communities to invest in facilities, must be address with the support of the
international community and there need to be clear commitments to formalise
property rights . Women need to be empowered, especially regarding issues
of land and water tenure .
Four. Feeding the world's growing population, and finding the water to grow
the food, is a sizeable challenge. Between the late 1990s and 2020 world
cereal demand will increase by 40% - through a growing population but also
changes in consumption patterns. The strain on water and land resources will
be considerable and food security issues need further attention within a water
context. Strategies should not only address irrigated agriculture, but also the
too neglects rain-fed agriculture, still the dominant provider for food. Water
use efficiency can increase, and available technologies and strategies to do so
need to be implemented . National strategies for food and nutritional security,
linked to IWRM, WEP and PRSP and to the basin level are critical . They
need to include time-bound sector targets for improved water use efficiency
and considerations of aspects such as environmental flow. Important is also
to address the opportunities and consequences for trade in food, and the
impact on water resources, which need further consideration also within a
CSD setting.
Five. Both conceptually and in its implementation, Integrated Water
Resources Management (IWRM) needs greater integration with land and
ecosystems management, and vice versa. CSD need to make sure that water
issues (including sanitation) is duly addressed also at future CSD sessions,
dealing with agriculture, land degradation, energy etc . After all, water is
everywhere in sustainable development!
The world finds itself in the middle of a period of rapid change . How humans
cope with that change, acknowledging the physical realities of the Earth, and
how we govern such changes on many different levels, will go a long way in
defining our world by 2025 . If people are to be less hungry, if they are to live in
dignity, and if our expanding urban areas are to be well functioning, it will
require that critical decisions are made today, here and now . CSD, as the critical
political authoritative body dealing with sustainable development in its most
encompassing way, need to take the necessary, sometimes bold, decisions .
You may rest assure that the annual World Water Week in Stockholm will do its
part and continue to keep water and sanitation issues, in their widest sense, on
the global agenda and thus play an important role as a follow-up mechanism on
global targets and commitments .
Mr Dag Hammanskjold once said :
"Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top . Then
you will see how low it was ."
Ladies and gentlemen, the only thing that cannot be recycled is wasted time, so I
will end my intervention here .
Thank you Mr chairman!
