World Water Week Daily Friday 2 September, 2016
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
STOCKHOLM<br />
waterfront<br />
world water week daily|FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2 | <strong>2016</strong><br />
<strong>Water</strong><br />
cannot be<br />
treated as<br />
an isolated<br />
issue<br />
H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden<br />
TEXT |görrel espelund PHOTO | thomas henrikson<br />
ALL STAKEHOLDERS MUST COME TOGETHER TO<br />
REALIZE THE 2030 AGENDA. THERE IS ALSO A<br />
NEED TO CONNECT THE SDGS WITH THE PARIS<br />
AGREEMENT, BOTH PROCESSES STRIVING<br />
TOWARDS THE SAME GOAL. THIS WAS THE<br />
MESSAGE FROM THE BUILDING A RESILIENT<br />
FUTURE THROUGH WATER EVENT.<br />
Several high-profile speakers gathered<br />
yesterday to highlight the importance<br />
of making water a central element in<br />
bringing the Sustainable Development<br />
Goals and the Paris Agreement forward.<br />
H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria, an<br />
SDG Advocate, pointed out that water is<br />
not an isolated development issue, and<br />
cannot be treated as such.<br />
“Disease, poverty, inequality. This is<br />
what we really talk about when we discuss<br />
water, so let’s change the perspective.<br />
Let’s talk about health, economic<br />
development and equal opportunities<br />
for boys and girls. This is what we can<br />
achieve if we make the right decisions<br />
about water today,” she said.<br />
H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria also<br />
mentioned the United Nation’s <strong>World</strong><br />
<strong>Water</strong> Development report and the connection<br />
between water and jobs, as well<br />
as the positive correlation between water<br />
investments and economic growth.<br />
“Investing in safe drinking water and<br />
sanitation is, in fact, investing in health.<br />
And it’s also investing in access to education,<br />
jobs and sustainable economic<br />
growth,” she said.<br />
Touching on the same theme, UN<br />
Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson,<br />
pointed out that the three pillars of the<br />
United Nations: peace, development<br />
and human rights, can also be applied<br />
to water.<br />
“Peace, because water is central to the<br />
security of communities and nations. Life,<br />
because water is indispensable to development.<br />
Dignity, because water is a human<br />
right fundamental to justice and the rule of<br />
law,” he said.<br />
It might seem that we live in a time of<br />
deep uncertainties and great risk, but we<br />
also live in a world of hope, Eliasson added.<br />
“The 2030 Agenda and the Climate<br />
Agreement are ground-breaking, ambitious<br />
and transformational. They are to<br />
be seen together, reflecting the interdependent<br />
relationship between peace,<br />
development and human rights.”<br />
The upcoming COP22 will be hosted<br />
by Morocco, a country that knows the<br />
importance of each drop of water, as<br />
Hakima El Haité, Delegate Minister in<br />
Charge of Environment, Morocco and<br />
COP22 host, remarked. She reminded<br />
the delegates that a special day has been<br />
set aside to highlight water issues at<br />
COP22.<br />
Rounding off yesterday morning’s<br />
event, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Special<br />
Advisor to the High Level Panel on<br />
<strong>Water</strong> and President of COP20, said he<br />
had high hopes that Stockholm would<br />
continue to be an important arena for<br />
water issues.<br />
“In the future I think we will see this<br />
meeting as the water-COP. The most<br />
important place to meet and discuss<br />
water,” he said.<br />
published by stockholm international water institute
FRIDAY: WORLD WATER WEEK DAILY<br />
Simi Kamal<br />
FOCUS ON WATER SHORTAGES<br />
IN BIG CITIES<br />
<strong>Water</strong> scarcity is not only a problem for<br />
arid rural areas, it is also very much a<br />
reality in large cities around the world. In<br />
the three-part seminar yesterday, <strong>Water</strong><br />
for sustainable and inclusive cities: how<br />
to induce change?, a series of case studies<br />
and panel discussions shed light on water<br />
issues in an urban context.<br />
During the closing session, Simi Kamal<br />
from the Karachi <strong>Water</strong> Partnership painted<br />
a very clear picture of the problem when she<br />
said that in some parts of her hometown in<br />
Pakistan, with a population of 24 million,<br />
a litre of water costs more than a litre of oil,<br />
due to poor supply.<br />
In terms of solutions, much of the closing<br />
discussion centred upon the need for<br />
proper leadership and inclusive partnerships<br />
including all stakeholders.<br />
“Then again, the only really important<br />
stakeholders here are in fact future generations,”<br />
Célia Blauel, deputy mayor of Paris, said.<br />
NUMBER OF THE DAY<br />
WANTED: BOLD CORPORATES<br />
TO HELP INTRODUCE<br />
UNIVERSAL WASH<br />
Corporates were called on to apply their<br />
“political clout and marketing expertise” to<br />
support the introduction of universal<br />
WASH during the Scaling up WASH action<br />
in company supply chains: promoting sustainable<br />
growth session yesterday.<br />
“There’s an opportunity for progressive<br />
corporates to align themselves with many other<br />
actors that are arguing for system-wide change<br />
through proper investment in WASH at national,<br />
regional, and international levels,” Nick<br />
Hepworth of <strong>Water</strong> Witness International said.<br />
While praising progress made by some<br />
companies, he reminded participants that basic<br />
WASH standards had been in place under an international<br />
ILO agreement for the past 54 years.<br />
“WASH issues are systemic, they’re about<br />
a lack of government investment […] so<br />
fiddling about at the edges with corporates<br />
and supply chains might not be the most<br />
productive response.”<br />
The system-wide focus was picked up by Lisa<br />
Hook, from clothing group Gap who, although<br />
warning of “issue fatigue” – with companies<br />
and other actors often struggling to prioritize<br />
water over other issues – said: “Governance is<br />
important. WASH is a systems-wide issue, and<br />
will need systems-wide solutions.”<br />
INTERACTIVE POSTERS PROVIDE SNAPSHOT OF THE WEEK<br />
Throughout <strong>World</strong> <strong>Water</strong> <strong>Week</strong>, an interactive<br />
poster exhibition has provided visitors<br />
with selected content from the <strong>Week</strong>’s<br />
programme. This was the scene yesterday,<br />
as delegates learnt about a variety of programmes,<br />
including water planning in the<br />
US, a ‘sponge city’ in Kenya, and wastewater<br />
reuse in Sri Lanka.<br />
10<br />
10<br />
LITRES OF WATER ARE REQUIRED TO PRODUCE ONE<br />
SHEET OF PAPER.<br />
SOURCE: UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION<br />
“There is<br />
nothing<br />
like a good<br />
crisis to<br />
bring about<br />
change”<br />
Neil Macleod,<br />
private water consultant<br />
SALTWATER THREAT<br />
TO COASTAL<br />
GROUNDWATER<br />
Saltwater intrusion into<br />
groundwater is becoming an<br />
increasingly urgent problem<br />
in many parts of the world,<br />
something which was covered<br />
in depth during a seminar<br />
yesterday morning.<br />
The problem in coastal<br />
areas is often that the natural<br />
boundary between seawater<br />
and the freshwater that sits<br />
under land is compromised<br />
by the inland pumping of<br />
freshwater.<br />
Since a large – and growing<br />
– proportion of the world’s<br />
population lives in coastal<br />
areas, relying heavily on<br />
groundwater as a source of<br />
freshwater, the issue of saltwater<br />
intrusion needs urgent<br />
attention, the speakers at the<br />
seminar argued.<br />
They called for better,<br />
and preferably dedicated<br />
groundwater management,<br />
where rainfall and salt levels<br />
are carefully monitored, so<br />
that pumping can be adjusted<br />
accordingly. In some places<br />
horizontal wells, where water<br />
is only drawn from the top<br />
level of the groundwater, has<br />
proven efficient, but to compensate<br />
during dry periods,<br />
systems for rainwater harvesting<br />
and recycled waste water<br />
also have to be explored, the<br />
panellists concluded.
GUEST COLUMN<br />
THE OLYMPICS OF WATER<br />
Jan Eliasson<br />
mobilized by water<br />
TEXT | görrel espelund PHOTO |thomas henrikson<br />
THE RIGHT TO WATER IS A HUMAN<br />
RIGHT AND SANITATION IS AN<br />
INTEGRAL PART OF OVERALL<br />
DEVELOPMENT. THAT IS THE<br />
MESSAGE FROM UN DEPUTY<br />
SECRETARY GENERAL JAN<br />
ELIASSON.<br />
Eliasson is the man who<br />
introduced the words “toilet”<br />
and “open defection” to<br />
diplomatic discussions. And<br />
when he did so, the translators<br />
at the UN headquarters<br />
in New York weren’t sure<br />
what he’d really said.<br />
“Some of them couldn’t<br />
even translate ‘open defecation’,”<br />
he says.<br />
“Bringing these words<br />
and challenges to the diplomatic<br />
discourse is to me<br />
essential. They bring the<br />
stark reality into our meeting<br />
rooms.”<br />
Ever since his appointment<br />
as the emergency<br />
coordinator of the UN in Somalia<br />
in 1992, Eliasson has<br />
been a strong advocate for<br />
water-related issues.<br />
“I saw children dying of<br />
dehydration, dysentery and<br />
diarrhoea. And I decided<br />
then and there to never stop<br />
fighting for the fundamental<br />
right to clean water and<br />
sanitation for all.”<br />
Today, 24 years later, he’d<br />
like to stress that water is<br />
more than a development issue:<br />
it’s a vital area to peace<br />
and human rights.<br />
“A child missing school<br />
to collect water, is deprived<br />
of an essential right. Just<br />
like a thirteen-year old<br />
girl missing her education<br />
because the school lacks<br />
toilets for girls. If you look at<br />
water from that perspective<br />
it becomes a much broader<br />
concept that will gather a<br />
broader coalition of partners<br />
and a larger network.”<br />
The SDG-system is a good<br />
start to bringing water up<br />
the world agenda. But to<br />
make it happen in reality all<br />
actors are needed, not only<br />
governments and international<br />
organizations.<br />
“We need the private<br />
sector, scientific community,<br />
civil society, the philanthropic<br />
world, and of course<br />
we need to mobilize social<br />
media and use all the modern<br />
communications that<br />
are at hand.”<br />
Concrete action, he adds,<br />
is always the most difficult<br />
challenge, but on this<br />
Eliasson is hopeful.<br />
“The structure of the<br />
SDGs is very good and the<br />
interrelationship between<br />
goals is realized by everybody.<br />
It’s caught on. We feel<br />
there’s a lot of energy and<br />
I think people are realizing<br />
this is really serious. This is<br />
about our future.”<br />
“<strong>Water</strong> is such a beautiful<br />
subject, it’s mobilizing by<br />
nature.”<br />
Hundreds of sessions, thousands of people, tens of<br />
thousands of ideas, and - unlike in most international<br />
gatherings - complete agreement that water is integral<br />
to climate, the SDGs and everyday health and quality<br />
of life.<br />
Needless to say, I missed nearly everything. <strong>World</strong><br />
<strong>Water</strong> <strong>Week</strong> is the Olympics of water and there’s no<br />
way to catch it all. Enabling investment in irrigation<br />
in sub-Saharan Africa was, I am told, a humdinger of<br />
a session. I wish I had been to the water and mining<br />
meet. Was Sigmund Freud really the missing link in<br />
water and sanitation? Don’t ask me.<br />
Instead, in the three days I was here, I met remarkable<br />
people. Joan B. Rose, the Stockholm <strong>Water</strong> Prize<br />
laurate, trebled my understanding of pollution. Her<br />
message about how the world is under attack from<br />
new and old pathogens was urgent, eloquent and<br />
scary. But she remained optimistic. I felt for her husband,<br />
who she drags from one water treatment plant<br />
to another.<br />
Between interviewing Ashok Swain and Anders<br />
Jägerskog, authors of a brilliant new book on Middle<br />
East water threats, and hearing of Asia’s water stress,<br />
the Guardian ran a session on valuing water. Anton<br />
Earle, SIWI’s man in Africa, and Andrew Fourie of SAB<br />
Miller, both argued well that we need to be talking to<br />
farmers as well as governments.<br />
My faith in power was restored by Isabella Lövin,<br />
Sweden’s deputy prime minister, who explained the<br />
reality of power-sharing and competing demands for<br />
money. To its credit, Sweden’s spending on climate<br />
change and water and sanitation has vastly increased.<br />
Another Green, deputy mayor of Paris, Célia<br />
Blauel, was also inspirational. She not only helped<br />
drive through the UN climate deal last December, but<br />
convened the meeting of world mayors who shamed<br />
national politicians by committing to far stronger targets.<br />
Blauel was evidence that progress on water could<br />
be made more at city level.<br />
Hats off, too, to the <strong>World</strong> Bank, for once not on the<br />
rack for big dams or water privatization. Jennifer Sara,<br />
director of its water practice division, backed strongly<br />
President Modi of India’s massive investment in sanitation.<br />
The money spent, she said, would repay itself<br />
over and over again. Why can’t other governments get<br />
this?<br />
But the last word goes to Catarina De Albuquerque,<br />
the chair of Sanitation and <strong>Water</strong> for All. Not only did<br />
she passionately speak up for the disadvantaged, she<br />
reminded everyone why they were there at Stockholm.<br />
The human right to water.<br />
John Vidal<br />
John Vidal is the Guardian’s environment editor
COMPLEX LINK BETWEEN DROUGHT AND MIGRATION<br />
TEXT | andreas karlsson PHOTO |thomas henrikson<br />
DROUGHT AND FORCED MIGRATION ARE OFTEN<br />
LINKED, SUGGESTING THAT THE FORMER IS A<br />
COMMON CAUSE FOR THE LATTER.<br />
During a well-attended seminar yesterday,<br />
Robert McLeman from Wilfrid<br />
Laurier University in Canada, a<br />
world-renowned authority on the<br />
matter, delivered the keynote speech.<br />
“Migration due to drought is not<br />
something that happens suddenly,<br />
although we sometimes get that feeling<br />
from media reports. It is in fact a long<br />
process with several steps of adaptation<br />
to a changing situation before we reach<br />
a tipping point,” McLeman said.<br />
Before that happens, he added, there<br />
is often an array of reasons, such as<br />
political unrest, violence and food<br />
insecurity, contributing to a situation<br />
where people eventually find themselves<br />
in a position where they have no option<br />
but to leave their homes. Drought alone<br />
is therefore not a sufficient explanation<br />
to forced migration.<br />
Speaking about migratory patterns he<br />
reminded attendees that a vast majority<br />
of migration is internal. China alone<br />
is estimated to have about 200 million<br />
internal migrants, compared with some<br />
250 million people worldwide living<br />
outside their home country.<br />
“Currently, 54 per cent of international<br />
refugees come from only<br />
three countries: Somalia, Syria and<br />
Robert McLeman<br />
Afghanistan – countries that also experience<br />
severe problems with drought. So<br />
there is indeed a connection here, but it<br />
is much more complex that one might<br />
think,” he said.<br />
world water week voices<br />
WHAT did you like MOST ABOUT WORLD WATER WEEK?<br />
Stephanie Motz,<br />
Grundfos, Germany<br />
“Meeting people<br />
from all around the<br />
world, also on a<br />
very high level,<br />
can really make an<br />
impact on how we<br />
treat water.”<br />
Danka Thalmeinerova,<br />
GWP, Sweden<br />
“The Junior <strong>Water</strong><br />
Prize because those<br />
young people, all of<br />
them, did so much<br />
over two, three years:<br />
they were really devoted<br />
– that’s our future.”<br />
Mthokozisi Pius Duze,<br />
Mhlathuze <strong>Water</strong>, South<br />
Africa<br />
“I value the experiences<br />
that were shared by<br />
different countries<br />
on how they use<br />
and conserve water<br />
– making sure that<br />
water remains for<br />
generations to come.”<br />
Tui Shortland, Te<br />
Kapehu Whetu,<br />
New Zealand<br />
“I’m here raising the<br />
visibility of Pacific<br />
issues; and what I value<br />
is the ability to connect<br />
with different people<br />
and look at future<br />
collaborations.”<br />
Zerihun Abebe Yigsaw,<br />
Ministry of Foreign<br />
Affairs, Ethiopia<br />
“The way that<br />
<strong>World</strong> <strong>Water</strong> <strong>Week</strong><br />
helps us to further<br />
our understanding<br />
of the issues, create<br />
awareness of the<br />
issues, and to<br />
mobilize finance.”<br />
Rochi Khemka, <strong>Water</strong><br />
Resources Lin Cheng, Group, WWF, India China<br />
“I have really valued<br />
the amount of<br />
knowledge sharing,<br />
and enjoyed meeting<br />
friends from around<br />
the world – it’s been<br />
great!”<br />
Digital updates<br />
Don’t forget to check in with us for<br />
digital updates throughout the day,<br />
and engage with us on social media.<br />
The online programme is available<br />
on programme.worldwaterweek.<br />
org and in the <strong>World</strong> <strong>Water</strong> <strong>Week</strong><br />
mobile phone app.<br />
<strong>World</strong> <strong>Water</strong> <strong>Week</strong> @siwi_water<br />
in Stockholm<br />
Stockholm International<br />
<strong>Water</strong> Institute (SIWI)<br />
@siwi_water<br />
Stockholm<br />
International<br />
<strong>Water</strong> Institute<br />
<strong>World</strong><br />
<strong>Water</strong><strong>Week</strong><br />
<strong>World</strong><br />
<strong>Water</strong><strong>Week</strong><br />
Download on<br />
App store &<br />
Google Play<br />
STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL WATER INSTITUTE | Box 101 87 | Visiting Address: Linnégatan 87A | SE-100 55 | Stockholm, Sweden<br />
Tel: +46 8 121 360 00 | www.siwi.org | Publisher: Torgny Holmgren | SIWI Editorial Staff | Editor: Victoria Engstrand-Neacsu<br />
Graphic Designer: Elin Ingblom | <strong>World</strong> <strong>Water</strong> <strong>Week</strong> <strong>Daily</strong> Editorial Staff | Görrel Espelund, Andeas Karlsson and Nick<br />
Chipperfield | Photography: Thomas Henrikson and Nayereh Rajabi<br />
stockholm waterfront daily • 28 AUGUST - 2 SEPTEMBER, <strong>2016</strong> • CIRCULATION: 700