Momen for sustainable water management to promote global peace, stability

Focusing on the source-to-sea approach to water cooperation, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has stressed the need for sustainable water management for promoting global peace and stability.

Momen presided over the plenary session of the UN 2023 Water Conference Thursday. He chaired the third plenary session of the conference.

The foreign minister also delivered the closing remarks at the high-level event “Water for Peace: From Source to Sea” at the UN Headquarters organised by Bangladesh, Global Center on Adaptation and Deltares.

Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to UN Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith delivered welcome speech and State Minister for Water Resources Zaheed Farooque delivered the opening remarks.

The panel discussion segment included Abdul Khan, minister for water supply of Nepal, Henk Ovink, special envoy for international water affairs of the Netherlands, Alexandra Ferreira de Carvalho, secretary-general of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action of Portugal, Francesca Bernardini, chief of transboundary cooperation section of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of Global Center on Adaptation, Ruth Mathews, senior manager and coordinator of Action Platform for Source-to-Sea Management, Stockholm International Water Institute, and Toon Segeren, director of Deltares International.

“Source-to-sea refers to the connections between what we do on land and along rivers, and the impact this has further downstream, along coasts and in the ocean. Water, sediment, plants, and animals provide such connections as does human waste and pollutants,” according to the Stockholm International Water Institute.

“Tracing impacts on the ocean back to its source is central to tackling global development challenges on a system scale. The source-to-sea approach is, in essence, the realisation that if we alter one component in this system, it will have an effect somewhere else. And these effects may jeopardize access to clean water, livelihoods, climate resilience, and ecosystem values and services downstream.”