Water at the Center: Key Outcomes 14 Sets a Stronger Path for Climate Action at COP30

Belém, Brazil — The Water for Climate Pavilion opened inside the Bairro do Mutirão para Cidades, Água e Infraestrutura with a clear message: investing in water smart solutions is essential to resilient economies, healthy communities, and a livable planet. Throughout the inauguration, speakers called for stronger multilateral cooperation and inclusive governance to translate global commitments into results that people can feel in their daily lives.

The UAE – Belém work programme on indicators to the GGA Framework should conclude at COP30, but heading into the negotiations, several aspects are still controversial. For ensuring the long-awaited holistic action that the world urgently needs on adaptation, Parties must decide on a robust and balanced set of indicators in the Water and Sanitation Target, and the GGA Framework as a whole.

A new space for cities, water, and infrastructure to drive collective climate action. At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the Water for Climate Pavilion will join forces with UN agencies, and international coalitions to co-create the Neighbourhood of the Mutirão for Cities, Water and Infrastructure, co-hosted by the Ministry of Cities and the Ministry of Integration and Regional Development of Brazil, a first-of-its-kind space in the COP Blue Zone dedicated to collective climate action across cities, water, buildings, and infrastructure.

The UN Climate Conference (COP29) wrapped last week leaving some delegates bitterly disappointed over the final outcomes and others relieved that the talks didn’t collapse entirely. The conference, fittingly held in Baku’s Olympic Stadium, was a titanic clash of interests between developed and developing countries. Negotiations dragged into overtime as delegates struggled to reach consensus on key issues like climate finance and fossil fuels.

On Food, Water, and Agriculture Day at COP29, the spotlight at the Water for Climate Pavilion was on “Locally Led Adaptation and Systems Strengthening,” a theme that underscored the urgent need to shift climate action from high-level discussions to community-driven solutions.

At COP29 Water for Climate Pavilion, climate experts urged countries to make water a central focus of their national climate plans. They warn that without prioritizing water in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), efforts to address climate change and build resilience could fall short.

As world leaders gather this week at the UN Climate Conference (COP29) in Baku, the question is whether countries can strengthen their commitments and act urgently enough to address the climate crisis.

Please find the schedule and its thematic groups below. Details are available in our Schedule page.

Rewatch our offical side event at SB60 for this official side-event!

The Third High-Level International Conference on the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development" 2018 – 2028, will be held on 10-13 June 2024, will be a platform for consolidating the achievements from the UN 2023 Water Conference, the COP28 Water Agenda and other global events to keep water at the heart of climate action.

After many consultations and efforts to consolidate input, the water community's official submission to the UNFCCC UAE Belem Work Programme is now posted on the UNFCCC portal.

At COP28, Parties adopted the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience or Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), as part of the UAE Consensus, including a range of thematic and dimensional targets for climate adaptation and resilience, with importantly four targets relating to water and sanitation.

At COP28 - through the Global Stocktake and the Global Goal on Adaptation (GAA), environmental and civil society organizations demanded with unprecedented strength that decision-making parties deliver an adaptation implementation agenda.