Building a Water Safe World – U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Italy
I’m in New York this week for the first UN water conference in almost 50 years. Fifty years in which our scientific understanding of the Earth’s water resources has expanded and deepened dramatically. And 50 years in which global water problems have become more pressing and pervasive. This week’s United Nations water conference in New York is urgent and long overdue.
Billions of people around the world still lack access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. Water supplies are becoming increasingly scarce and unpredictable, and the lack of clean water poses enormous risks to human health and well-being.
Alongside this chronic lack of access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation, communities around the world are being devastated by floods and droughts associated with the climate crisis. Here in the United States, we experience both floods and droughts.
For example, the past three years in California have been the driest on record — wilted crops, threatened drinking water supplies and mounting wildfires. Last week, that drought was followed by devastating but not fully alleviated flooding, with more than half of California’s 58 counties under a state of emergency.
And, of course, similar natural disasters happen all over the world. I have just returned from Pakistan where I saw first hand the tragic effects of last year’s floods which inundated nearly a third of the country.
And so this year’s UN Water Conference comes at a critical moment. I am excited to have the opportunity to be here and to focus on the use, value and protection of freshwater. The work ahead of us is enormous.
On Wednesday, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced US commitments of more than $49 billion to ensure climate-resilient water and sanitation remain a priority at home and around the world. These announcements build on President Biden’s one-time commitment to eliminate lead plumbing and bring clean drinking water to all Americans through the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the White House Global Water Security Action Plan.
The international community must work together to put water high on the agenda. Water is the link of all Sustainable Development Goals and the vector through which we feel and see the effects of climate change. So I join the call for the UN to appoint a special envoy on water this year. We need another strong voice to advocate for water issues across industries and platforms.
I really hope that we don’t have to wait another 50 years for the next UN water conference. I am excited about the progress we are making this week and the United States intends to ensure that it continues.
About the author: Monica P. Medina was confirmed as Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs on September 28, 2021.
