High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2019

Thursday 11 July

• Fulfilling the human rights to water, sanitation and decent work: An interlinkage approach to reduce inequalities and achieve the SDGs
  • Organizers: WaterAid, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, International Labour Organisation, Columbia University Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Permanent Mission of Rwanda to the UN (TBC)
  • Date and time: Thursday 11 July 13:30-15:00
  • Venue: Japan Society, Murase Room, 333 E. 47th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues
  • Short description: Emphasizing equitable access to water, sanitation and hygiene as a pivotal intervention in prevailing conditions of inequality, this discussion will spotlight interlinkages amongst Sustainable Development Goals 6 (water and sanitation), 8 (economic growth and decent work), 10 (reducing inequalities), and 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions). In surfacing these connections – against a bedrock of communities organizing to demand their rights and transform the status quo – the event will encourage an ambitious step up in implementation of the 2030 Agenda in its remaining decade of action. Bringing together UN entities, NGO perspectives and government representatives, this event will share models towards a human rights-based approach to WASH and decent work as fundamental to achieving the SDGs.

• Water, crucial to achieve the SDGs under review at the HLPF 2019
  • Organizers:  Organized by Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations, and supported by UNESCO World Water Assessment Program (WWAP) and UN-Water
  • Date and time: Thursday 11 July 13:15 - 14:45
  • Venue: 871 United Nations Plaza, New York, Auditorium
  • Short description: SDG 6 on clean water and sanitation provides a unique opportunity to accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda due to the central role of water in advancing human rights, reducing poverty and inequality and enabling peace, justice and sustainability in all its dimensions. The crosscutting importance of water and sanitation in achieving the SDGs is recognized in the UN-Water SDG 6 Synthesis Report 2018 and further explored in three regional policy papers in 2019 (Africa, Arab Region, Latin America and the Caribbean). Identifying and understanding the interlinkages between SDG 6 and other SDGs is critical for increasing policy coherence and effectiveness at regional and national scales, and for facilitating integrated implementation of the 2030 Agenda. This side event will focus on the critical role of water in the realization of the SDGs under review at the HLPF 2019.
  • Download the invitation and more information here.

• Fulfilling the human rights to water, sanitation and decent work: An interlinkage approach to reduce inequalities and achieve the SDGs
  • Organizers:  Organized by WaterAid, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, International Labour Organization, Columbia University Institute for the Study of Human Rights
  • Date and time: Thursday 11 July 13:00 - 15:00
  • Venue: Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Aves), Murase Room, New York
  • Short description: Emphasizing equitable access to water, sanitation and hygiene as a pivotal intervention in prevailing conditions of inequality, this discussion will spotlight interlinkages amongst Sustainable Development Goals 6 (water and sanitation), 8 (economic growth and decent work), 10 (reducing inequalities), and 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions), including by promoting equitable and dignified sanitation work. In surfacing these connections – against a bedrock of communities organizing to demand their rights and transform the status quo – the event will encourage an ambitious step up in implementation of the 2030 Agenda in its remaining decade of action. Bringing together UN entities, NGO perspectives and government representatives, this event will share models towards a human rights-based approach to WASH and decent work as fundamental to achieving the SDGs.
  • Download more information here.

Friday 12 July

• Deep dive: Water and climate change
  • Organizers:  UN-Water
  • Date and time: Friday 12 July, 13:15 – 14:25
  • Venue: Conference Room 12, United Nations Headquarters New York
  • Short Description: The global climate crisis is inextricably linked to water. Climate change increases variability in the water cycle, reducing the predictability of water availability, affecting water quality and threatening sustainable development and biodiversity worldwide. Growing water demand simultaneously increases the need for energy-intensive water pumping, transportation, and treatment, and has contributed to the degradation of critical water-dependent carbon sinks such as peatlands. Some climate change mitigation measures, such as the expanded use of biofuels, can further exacerbate water scarcity. Increased water stress and meeting future water demand will require increasingly tough decisions about how to allocate water resources between competing water uses – including water for climate change mitigation and adaptation activities.
  • Download the invitation and more information here.

• Delivering Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Current Climate Change Scenario – Innovative Responses from South-South Cooperation and the Water Operators Partnerships
  • Organizers: The Permanent Mission of Tajikistan, the UN Office for South-South Cooperation and the Global Water Operators’ Partnerships Alliance/UN-Habitat with the support of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
  • Date and time: Friday 12 July 2019, 15:00 - 16:30
  • Venue: Conference Room 6 United Nations Headquarters New York
  • Short Description: Enhanced international cooperation is crucial for mitigating and adapting to climate change and South-South cooperation is gaining momentum as a meaningful approach to addressing this global challenge. The UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and the UN-Habitat-led Global Water Operators’ Partnerships Alliance (GWOPA) are embracing the emerging capacity among southern water and sanitation utilities to address climate change. Structured exchange between peer utilities on a not-for-profit basis, called Water Operators Partnerships (WOPs), are an increasingly important form of South South Cooperation (SSC). The event will give some examples of utility-led water and climate innovations in the developing south and showcase partnerships that are helping to share these approaches.
  • Download the Concept Note.

Monday 15 July

• Scaling up climate action through integrated water and energy solutions: Delivering on the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda
  • Organizers:  UN DESA, the Government of Spain and Itaipu Binacional
  • Date and time: Monday, 15 July 2018, 14:30-16:30
  • Venue: Instituto Cervantes, New York
  • Short Description: In the lead-up to the Climate Summit, the review of SDG 13 at the High-level Political Forum offers a unique opportunity to leverage water, energy and climate interlinkages for scaled-up action. Building on ongoing efforts by the Global Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions Network, this event will bring global leaders to discuss the risks generated by climate change in the water-energy sector, showcase existing initiatives and mobilize action to accelerate the adoption of integrated water and energy solutions towards achieving the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda.

• Why valuing rivers and deltas is critical to climate change adaptation
  • Organizers:  AB InBev and WWF
  • Date and time: Monday, 15 July, 18:00-19:30
  • Venue: Anheuser-Busch. 125 W 24th St, New York, NY 10011
  • Short Description: As the world meets at the High Level Political Forum in New York in July to review SDG13 on climate, we should all remember that water is at the heart of the climate adaptation debate. Water, particularly in the form of healthy freshwater ecosystems, is fundamental to the functioning of our societies and economies globally – as well as all life on land. Rural communities and mega cities as well as local and multinational corporations are all dependent on access to adequate quantity and quality of water, delivered through ecosystem services across the globe.
    However, rivers, lakes and wetlands are facing unprecedented threats, including over abstraction, pollution and habitat destruction and degradation – from damming rivers to draining peatlands. Climate change is a compounding risk factor in an already-bleak landscape – especially as healthy freshwater systems will be central to global efforts to adapt to climate change.
    The risks and opportunities are most apparent in deltas, particularly in Asia. Home to over 400 million people and a wealth of biodiversity, Asia’s great deltas are critical to the economies, food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable development of the entire continent, as well as to global industrial and financial systems.
  • Download program here.

Information related to Special Events to be held at the margins of the 2019 United Nations High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. More information is also available here.