Tracking and Building Urban Water Resilience: From Cities to National Climate Commitments

To demonstrate how the Water Resilience Tracker (WRT) and the City Water Resilience Approach (CWRA) can help governments and cities operationalise climate commitments by linking national policies with local implementation.

To show how evidence-based tools enable reporting, accountability, and scaling up of locally led actions in urban and basin contexts.

Panel + Case Examples – showcase country-level application of the WRT alongside city-level experience with CWRA (e.g. Addis Ababa, Kigali, Lagos).

Interactive Segment – short exercise or demonstration showing how a national target (e.g. climate-resilient sanitation) cascades into city-level action plans using these tools.

Partnership Call to Action – invite governments, cities, and development partners to adopt and scale use of the WRT and CWRA in the run-up to UN Water 2026.

Programme:

Welcome and Opening (5 min):

• Manuel Eckert, SIWI

Opening keynote – The importance of multi-level water resilience for climate action; connecting cities to national commitments (10 min):

• Governor Clécio Luis, State of Amapá, Brazil

Presentation 1 – Water Resilience Tracker (10 min):

• John Matthews, Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA)

Presentation 2 – Malawi Case Study (10 min):

• Greenwell Matchaya, International Water Management Institute

Presentation 3- City Water Resilience Approach (10 min):

• Martin Shouler, Arup

Presentation 4 – Insights from Indigenous-led approaches to resilience and environmental stewardship in Brazil (10 min):

• Weibe Tapeba, Indigenous Health Secretary

Panel Conversation: From Tools to Transformation (30 min): 

• John Matthews, Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA)
• Greenwell Matchaya, International Water Management Institute
• Martin Shouler, Arup
• Weibe Tapeba, Indigenous Health Secretary

Closing and call to action (5 min):

• Manuel Eckert, SIWI