Deltares at the UN 2023 Water Conference and New York Water Week: Connecting policy and science

The UN 2023 Water Conference will galvanise leaders from around the world to make new commitments and pledges, and to take action. This will result in a Water Action Agenda, which will help mobilise action across countries, sectors, and stakeholders to meet the global water-related goals and targets.

The UN Water Conference is co-hosted by the governments of the Netherlands and Tajikistan. It is the first UN water conference to be organised in nearly 50 years and is a midterm review of the UN’s Water Action Decade (2018-2028).

The New York Water Week takes place alongside the UN 2023 Water Conference. It will host creatives, businesses, cities, and water advocates, encouraging them to share knowledge and solutions that feed into the UN 2023 Water Conference.

Connecting policy and science

Deltares aims ensure that the political process around the UN 2023 Water Conference is informed by the best available knowledge. Policy cannot be disconnected from science, and we believe it is our role is to connect these two, mobilising all forces and bringing together the necessary knowledge.

We also see the Conference and the New York Water Week as a unique opportunity to create a dialogue, set the agenda, and to engage with our partners. This is crucial for us, as solving major challenges requires systemic changes to our society that no single organisation can achieve on its own.

Deltares events

Deltares will host several side events during the Conference and the New York Water Week, covering a wide range of different topics including; resilient cities, water, peace and security, water and heritage, the role of technology in solving the water crisis, climate finance, source to sea, and the value of water. The UN 2023 Water Conference will also see the launch of the International Panel on Deltas and Coastal Areas (IPDC), aimed at bringing together world leaders to encourage climate action to protect vulnerable deltas, coasts, and islands.

#WaterWeGonnaDo?

In order to realise the water-related sustainable development goals, the UN estimates that the world needs to increase its efforts fourfold. Deltares believes that ‘every drop counts’, and that it is incumbent on all – from government, to private sector, to individuals – to take water action.

Our #WaterWeGonnaDo? campaign encourages colleagues, partners, and stakeholders to consider what water action they can take. It highlights some of the water-saving initiatives we have taken on our campuses, such as collecting rainwater, using more plant-based proteins in our staff canteen, and using rainwater to clean our windows and facades.

We firmly believe that no effort is too small, and we encourage everyone to ask themselves: ‘WaterWeGonnaDo?’.