Badung, 24 May 2024 – At the end of the 10th World Water Forum’s Regional Process session on Thursday afternoon, 23 May, coordinators of four regions, namely Asia-Pacific, Africa, America, and the Mediterranean, identified similarities of challenges in these regions to overcome water crises caused by climate change.

The coordinators recognized priority measures related to water crises at local and regional levels based on their understanding of general water priority aspects and regional contexts.

Therefore, the four regions agreed that strengthening disaster risk reduction management is necessary. This management is important so that climate change, particularly water crises, does not bring about widespread impacts that cause economic loss and severe environmental damage.

Changhua Wu, coordinator of the Asia-Pacific Region who is also Chair of the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) Governing Council, said that humankind is susceptible to experiencing economic loss as an impact of climate change.  

For that reason, Wu pushed for an inclusive development based on gender equality for environmental preservation, including public participation in governance improvement and financial catalysts, as well as innovation and technological advancement. “Developing public resilience and adaptive capacity to manage disasters is essential for sustainable development in this region,” he said.

In addition to highlighting climate change impacts that need to be overcome together, coordinators of the four regions also underscored the importance of regulations that give public the right to water as an effort to prevent water conflicts. Innovation, technology, youth and public involvement, and water use solutions are also on the identification list.

On the same occasion, the coordinator of African and American regions pointed out that disaster risk reduction efforts require investment in sustainable and multifunctional water infrastructure and commitment to conserving natural infrastructure ecosystem restoration. They also stressed the importance of closing the economic gap across different groups in the society and strengthening existing institutions with regulatory frameworks and coordination mechanisms at all levels to reduce water crisis risks.

World Water Council (WWC) President Loïc Fauchon also expressed his concern on those matters at the opening of the regional process on Tuesday, 21 May. He underscored that the regional process session was crucial and would become a significant milestone of all the water discussions taking place this week.

For the record, the speakers of the session are President of the Mediterranean Water Institute (IME) Alain Meyssonnier, CEO of Sabesp Benedito Braga, Executive Secretary of African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) Rashid Mbaziira, Chair of Governing Council Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) Changhua Wu, and Eelco Van Beek from Asian Development Bank (ADB). (Ni Komang Erviani/Ayu Sulistyowati/TR/Elvira Inda Sari)