UN Year of Groundwater
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UN Year of Groundwater 2022
In 2022, the UN had a special focus on groundwater, organising a number of global groundwater events and producing various reports on the role of this ‘invisible resource’ and how best it can be managed in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
9th World Water Forum (WWF) in Dakar, Senegal (21-26th March, 2022)
From the 21-26th March, the 9th World Water Forum was held in Dakar, Senegal. Jointly organised by the World Water Council (WWC) and the Government of Senegal, the forum brought together Heads of State and major international institutions to ‘advance the political agenda on water and sanitation’. The UN World Water Development Report (WWDR) launched at the forum, presenting a state and trends of groundwater resources globally.
World Water Day (Tuesday 22nd March, 2022)
Every year, World Water Day is celebrated on the 22nd of March. In 2022, the theme was ‘groundwater’ with the intention of drawing attention to the role of groundwater in water and sanitation systems, agriculture, industry, ecosystems and adaption to climate change.
WaterAid report
With the British Geological Survey, WaterAid produced a report on the potential role that groundwater could play in increasing people’s resilience to climate change in Africa. They assessed the amount of groundwater available, how quickly this can be replenished by rain and how much can be stored in rocks. The report concluded that on a national scale, most countries in Africa had ample groundwater not only to survive, but to thrive.
UN-Water Summit on Groundwater, UNESCO HQ, Paris (7-8th December, 2022)
On the 7th and 8th of December, the UN held their first summit on groundwater at the UNESCO HQ in Paris. Coordinated by IGRAC and UNESCO-IHP the summit used the World Water Development Report and the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework as guidelines for how best to use and protect this natural resource.
During the summit, speaker Stefan Siepman delivered a presentation on the ‘Groundwater Catalogue’, a tool designed to aid decision-makers in exploring solutions to groundwater issues, linking science, policy and practice.
On day two, the ‘Transboundary Water Cooperation Coalition’ was launched. The coalition, a multistakeholder partnership involving 30 governments and organisations, was created with the aim of increasing transboundary water cooperation worldwide.
The main outcome of the summit was the ‘UN-Water joint message and call for action groundwater: The invisible resource for sustainable development'.
References
Ford, Anna; Casey, Vincent; Goverde, Rik; Newton-Lewis, Virginia; MacDonald, Alan; Upton, Kirsty; Ritchie, Calum; Pole, Hannah. 2022 Groundwater : the world's neglected defence against climate change. WaterAid, 7pp. (Unpublished)
United Nations, The United Nations World Water Development Report 2022: Groundwater: Making the invisible visible. UNESCO, Paris.
United Nations, UN-Water Joint Message and Call for Action Groundwater: The Invisible Resource for Sustainable Development. UNESCO, Groundwater Summit 2022.
Africa Groundwater Atlas >> Resource pages >> UN Year of Groundwater