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HLPF side event: Starting at the source to protect the sea: Looking upstream to achieve SDG 14

HLPF side event: Starting at the source to protect the sea: Looking upstream to achieve SDG 14

Online, 7 July 2022, 7.30-9.00 am (EST) / 1.30-3.00 pm (CET)

07 July 2022

In 2022, the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) will review in-depth Sustainable Development Goals 4 on quality education, 5 on gender equality, 14 on life below water, 15 on life on land, and 17 on partnerships for the Goals, taking in to account the different impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic across all Sustainable Development Goals and the integrated, indivisible and interlinked nature of the Goals.

On the side-line of the HLPF, UNECE is organizing a side event on the source-to-sea approach which is critical to achieve SDG 14 and contributes to SDG 6 and SDG 15.
Organized in partnership with Estonia, Slovenia, the Global Water Partnership (GWP), the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the GEF IW: LEARN platform and the UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan, the side event aims to increase the understanding of the interlinkages between marine, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, showcase best practices and propose practical steps for achieving effective source-to-sea management. The importance of , transboundary cooperation to ensure the success of source-to-sea management will also be discussed.

Through concrete case studies and experience sharing from different regions across the world, the side event intends to answer the following guiding questions: Why is source-to-sea management needed and how does it benefit SDGs 14 and 15? What are the opportunities and barriers of bringing together the terrestrial, freshwater and ocean communities? How can transboundary water cooperation help protect coastal and marine environments, including through the framework of the Water Convention? What are some of the success stories that exemplify the value of integrating across the source-to-sea system and how can these be replicated and scaled-up?

The side event will be opened by Ms. Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Mr. Peter Thomson, United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean.

To register to the event, please use the following link: https://gwp-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcude2rrDgoHdWPjle0BWh1JjaRWprgLdV3

HLPF side event webpage: https://hlpf.un.org/2022/programme/starting-at-the-source-to-protect-the-sea-looking-upstream-to-achieve-sdg-14

The programme of the event is available  here