Briefing on the ninth session of the Meeting of Parties to the Water Convention

Water Convention

21 June 2021 14:00 - 15:30

Hybrid: Virtual (WebEx) and Room XXIV of the Palais des Nations Geneva Switzerland

The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Estonia and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) jointly organized a briefing on the 9th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention).

The briefing provided an overview of the topics to be discussed and decisions to be taken by the Meeting of the Parties and main expected outcomes of the session.

The 9th session of the Meeting of the Parties will be held from 29 September to 1 October 2021 as a hybrid meeting (Geneva and virtual), organized by UNECE in cooperation with Estonia.

The briefing was attended by about 100 participants from Permanent Missions to the United Nations Office at Geneva, focal points to the Water Convention, other experts representing governmental authorities, joint bodies, non-governmental as well as international organizations and other interested stakeholders.

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.

Ninth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention

The ninth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention (29 September - 1 October 2021) will be a milestone for reviewing and accelerating progress towards achieving SDG target 6.5, discussing challenges and good practices related to transboundary water cooperation and the role of the Convention. Issues such as climate change adaptation, intersectoral “nexus” cooperation and financing transboundary water cooperation will be discussed. The high-level segment on 29 September 2021 will focus on “Water and peace”.

The Convention’s global opening will be discussed, and the meeting will adopt the programme of work for 2022-2024 and important decisions. Several publications will be launched, for example on water allocation, developing legal frameworks for transboundary cooperation, intersectoral cooperation (nexus solutions), financing transboundary water cooperation, etc.

Agenda

During the briefing, high-level representatives of Kazakhstan, Estonia and UNECE presented the main achievements of the Water Convention in 2019-2021 and priorities for 2022-2024 as well as topics, decisions and expected outcomes of the ninth session of the Meeting of the Parties. Ample time for questions and answers was provided.

12199 _ Programme MOP9 Briefing _ 357628 _ English _ 773 _ 330069 _ pdf