The briefing on the 10th session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP10) to Water Convention provided an overview of the topics to be discussed, decisions to be taken by the Meeting of the Parties and main expected outcomes of MOP10. This briefing was organized by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Slovenia and the UNECE, primarily for representatives from Permanent Missions to the United Nations Office in Geneva.
The 10th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention will take place from 23 to 25 October 2024 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, as an in-person event. This milestone event is organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, on behalf of the Government of Slovenia, in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Water Convention, hosted by UNECE.
Background Water Convention
The Water Convention, serviced by UNECE, is a unique global multilateral environmental agreement aiming to ensure the sustainable use of transboundary water resources by facilitating cooperation. Since more than 60% of freshwater globally flows in shared basins, transboundary water cooperation is crucial for peace, sustainable development and human well-being.
The Water Convention has, for more than three decades, promoted the sustainable use of transboundary water resources, facilitated cooperation, supported the achievement of SDGs, prevented conflicts, and supported cooperative climate action. The Convention has grown from a regional to a global instrument, with five new countries joining in the course of 2023 only. The Meetings of the Parties, taking place every three years, represent the largest international event driving the transboundary water cooperation agenda at the global level.
Tenth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention (MOP10)
MOP10 (23-25 October 2024) will be a crucial milestone for the Water Convention. Issues such as climate change adaptation, source-to-sea management, intersectoral “nexus” cooperation and financing transboundary water cooperation will be discussed. The Meeting is expected to adopt a new programme of work for the period 2025-2027 as well as numerous other decisions, review achievements, exchange best-practices, reflect on challenges and identify future priorities for the coming three years.
The high-level segment will focus on the theme "Our waters, our future: Transboundary water cooperation to power climate resilience" and will discuss how transboundary water cooperation can accelerate climate action. Taking place shortly before the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (Baku, 11-22 November 2024), the high-level segment comes at a critical time in advancing these crucial discussions.
During the briefing, high-level representatives of Estonia, Slovenia and UNECE presented the main achievements of the Water Convention in 2022-2024 and priorities for the programme of work 2025-2027 as well as topics, decisions and expected outcomes of MOP10. Ample time for questions and answers were provided.