Water: Guterres, “is a human right”; Pichetto, “without it, there is no future”

NEW YORK, MARCH 22 – Without water, as Nelson Mandela said, there is no future. The Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, evoked the vision of the first democratically elected president of South Africa before the Second World Conference on Water, which opened today in New York. “Water is a human right”, said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, opening the high-level event organized at UN Headquarters by the Netherlands and Tajikistan.

“When, almost a half a century ago, our Countries met in Mar del Plata, the echoes of the drought that affected Africa were still loud and clear, putting the world in front of the enormity of a true scourge of our time. Much has changed in terms of knowledge, instruments and strategies. Yet it is clear that we have not done enough to combat what is still today one of the most serious planetary emergencies”, said Pichetto in his address to the Assembly.

The Minister recalled that drought periods are increasingly recurrent in Italy as well, as is the case in the wider Mediterranean context, which, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is one of the highest-risk areas of the globe. “In this context that spares no one, let me say that, beyond any rhetoric, this Conference represents a historic moment to renew the commitment of the international community to protect water as a pillar of sustainability for the human society”, said Pichetto. “Sustainability also entails working together to prevent entire populations from being forced to move in search of water and acceptable living conditions”.

Italy strongly supports the Agenda for Action on Water and to put water at the centre of climate change-fighting strategies, according to the approach of the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems link and the principles of the 2030 Agenda. “This action is supported by a few important elements: the Key Messages shared of the European Union for the Interactive Dialogues; the Integrated Management of Water Resources and the WASH approach to Water and Health; the strengthening the wider UN coordination system, and the appointment of a UN Envoy for Water”, added Pichetto, who said that, “faced with the challenge of the very survival of our planet, everybody must start from their own home“.

Italy is determined in its response to the water crisis. In the Recovery and Resilience Plan, funds amounting to 4.38 billion euros in 5 years were distributed to water resources. A coordination committee has been set up in order to respond to the crisis, supported by new legislations and operational procedures.

Specific projects were carried out, including the enhancement – thanks to an investment of 600 million Euro in 2026 – of the capacity for water monitoring and risk prevention, supported by innovations such as advanced systems for monitoring and forecasting environmental and anthropogenic risks.

Under the Integrated Water Resources Management and Nature-Based Solutions, an intervention accounting for 357 million Euro is underway in the Po region, with a focus on water quality and biodiversity of the longest river in Italy.

Lastly, a new instrument, the Italian Climate Fund, will shortly be operational with a budget of 840 million per year until 2026. Specific actions have been put into place in some of the most vulnerable regions, consistent with objectives 13 (Climate Change), 7 (clean and accessible energy) and 6 (clean water and sanitation) of the Agenda 2030. In 2022, the Italian Ministry of Environment financed 69 million euros to multilateral cooperation projects and 5 million to bilateral projects. More than 50 bilateral projects were approved, prioritising Sahel, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Mediterranean and small island states. In recent years, moreover, the share of budget devoted to water by the Italian development cooperation has grown steadily. (@OnuItalia)