About the UN 2023 Water Conference
Coinciding with World Water Day, the UN held the their first freshwater-focussed event in almost 50 years. This landmark event was co-hosted by the Governments of Tajikistan and the Netherlands at the UN Headquarters in New York City from 22-24 March 2023. In addition to the core plenary meetings and multi-stakeholder dialogues, there were a number of high-level special events and side events within and around the UN Headquarters. There were also a number of key water events happening around New York City as part of New York Water Week.
Learn more at sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2023
Seven Key Takeaways
Delegates from AWS attended more than 35 events during the UN 2023 Water Conference, both at the UN Headquarters and around New York. Read their seven key takeaways from the week.
Joint Statement from the Water Stewardship Community
The Alliance for Water Stewardship has joined the water stewardship community to sign a Joint Statement calling on governments to incentivise private sector action on water. It outlines 6 key solution areas where business action can have the biggest impact, when supported by government advocacy and partnership. To learn more about this work, visit wateractionnow.org
AWS at the 2023 UN Water Conference
AWS sent a high-level delegation to New York, where we hosted two side events, located at the Nature Hub and at the UN headquarters. We also participated in more than 15 other side events and gatherings.
Enhancing water resiliency in food systems
We heard from agricultural and food & beverage companies, development financiers and a supporting consultant on how adoption of water stewardship is helping build resilience in global food systems.
Thursday, 23 March 2023 | 9:30 – 10:45 EDT | The Nature Hub
Co-conveners
This session was co-convened with: Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) | Netherlands Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO) | Dole | Mars, Inc. | Nestlé S.A. | Nutrien | PepsiCo | South Pole
Watch the session
Common good outcomes through water stewardship:
The power of a multi-stakeholder standard to drive effective, verifiable collaboration between business, civil society and government
We heard from corporations, governments and iNGOs on how a sustainability standard system for water, the Alliance for Water Stewardship Standard, helps them achieve and verify progress against common water goals.
Thursday, 23 March 2023 | 17:00 – 18:15 EDT | UN Headquarters, Conference Room 9
Co-conveners
This session was co-convened with: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) | Global Water Partnership (GWP) | International Water Management Institute (IWMI) | WaterAid | World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) | Apple | Diageo | Dole | H&M Group
Watch the session
AWS delegation at the UN Water Conference
- Elaine Mead, Chair of AWS Board
- Adrian Sym, AWS CEO
- Scott McCready, AWS Chief Strategy Officer
- Sarah Wade, AWS Sector Lead
For media enquiries, please contact Brenda McIlwraith, Communications Lead at brenda@a4ws.org
> Download the AWS Itinerary for the UN 2023 Water Conference