Gilbert Houngbo, President of IFAD and Chair of UN-Water - World Meteorological Organization’s 2021 State of Climate Services: Water

Extreme weather events are making water more scarce, more unpredictable and more polluted.

In the face of accelerating climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to improve water management. This will allow humankind to protect health and save lives.

At the same time, using water more efficiently will reduce greenhouse gases. So, tackling water issues is critical to climate action plans.

The SDG6 Global Acceleration Framework is designed to bring the international community together to help countries to achieve sustainable water and sanitation for all by 2030.

Guided by this Framework, the Water and Climate Coalition, and the Water and Climate Leaders, are forging an integrated agenda and driving action by the UN system, civil society and the private sector.

The World Meteorological Organization’s 2021 State of Climate Services Report on water is an important contribution to this effort.

To know what we need to do, and where, in order to achieve better water management, we need sound data and information. This report will help us to further integrate the water and climate agendas, and guide us in directing interventions to where they are needed most.

Friends, we are off track to achieve SDG 6. Getting back on track is critical to building resilience against the climate threats that are fast turning into regular climate events.

The next milestone in improving our response is the UN 2023 Water Conference. By then, let us ensure we can demonstrate more action and more tangible results.