Csaba Kőrösi, President of the 77th session of the General Assembly
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HLPF session on “Global Water Information for Improved Policy and Decision-Making – HydroSOS implementation”
19 July 2023
(As delivered)
Good evening to everyone in New York, good morning in Europe and good afternoon in the more eastern part of the hemisphere.
Indeed, it has been four months since the historic UN Water Conference that identified the Global Water Information System as a gamechanger.
One out of nine gamechangers.
And as you also mentioned, the Secretary-General [António Guterres] has called for implementation of it by 2030.
And it has already been two months since the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework that reinforced the need for informed risk assessment and preparedness to achieve the SDGs.
It is time to ask ourselves where we are with the implementation since both projects, both very important projects, what we agreed upon to pursue need data, information and science in our collective endeavour towards a water-secure, disaster-resilient future.
So, how are we faring?
An essential quality of the hydrological cycle is that, as a global common good, it unites us all. It’s a fact that was finally broadly acknowledged by participants in the March Water Conference, though still, some of us tend to forget about this basic fact.
The unified platform envisaged under the Global Water Information System will definitely accelerate and deepen collaboration between and among countries and partners, at various levels, by building trust and solidarity among the Member States using it.
As we just heard, maybe not yet but I’ve heard him speak many times and we’ll probably hear him say it a bit later, the Secretary General of WMO, the sharing of water data through the HydroSOS offers the best chance to solve our world’s water problems.
We know that reliable data and information are essential for sustainably managing water resources – and, therefore, critical how to address the water-food-energy nexus.
As we discussed during the March Water Conference, it is a pivotal issue how we decouple water consumption, food production and energy production.
If we can do it, then we are saved.
If we cannot make it, then the mathematics do not add up to everything that we need by 2030. So this decoupling will be absolutely essential.
This decoupling adds a huge impact on accelerating our knowledge, increasing our knowledge, particularly if we take into consideration that climate change will impact on all conditions related to water use, energy production and food production.
And to mange it in a constantly changing environment, we definitely need broad data-based, synchronized data-based, validated data-based, that will be absolutely vital tool for our survival and our wellbeing.
By using a global water information system, countries will be empowered to assess this dependence, and in turn, become more resilient to shocks of various kinds.
They will be prepared to make informed decisions on water allocation, storage and distribution – as well as land management, climate resilience and early warnings to protect against disasters.
So it is easy to say and right to say that we are going to create an absolutely vital tool for sustainability transformation and survival.
We speak often about the sustainability transformation.
As a matter of fact, we are in the process of transformation already.
And we are faced with a choice – about whether we will be victims of the forces at play. Or the architects of meaningful change using them.
The momentum sparked by the Water Conference in March – if sustained from the Sendai Midterm Review, through the current High-level Political Forum to the SDG Summit meeting later in September and beyond – has the power to turbocharge our progress on the Water Action Agenda.
In fact, our progress on the entire 2030 Agenda.
In this global game, fulfilling action-oriented commitments, such as the Global Water Information System, are key, are essential.
They are the to be or not to be in the future.
I am encouraged by the many countries, partners and stakeholders with whom I had the pleasure to meet and discuss water-related issues in the past ten months or so.
All of them expressed interest in being a part of this endeavour.
Some of them offered data, satellite data free. Some of them offered financial contributions. Some of them offered human resources. And there were even partners who offered all three.
So I thank very much WMO, the United Kingdom and Switzerland for organizing today’s event to keep this momentum strong.
It is now up to us.
Though in this room we are not that many but I think the quality is the most important. And 20, 25 people of high-quality can make a real difference when we talk about pushing for a transformation.
So let’s follow it through, let’s follow through on the bold ideas.
And I say, let’s get to it.
As a matter of fact, I don’t think we have too much of a choice here.
To quote Benjamin Franklin, “You may delay, but time will not.”
So let’s do it.
Thank you very much.
