UN-Habitat launches global consultation on wastewater
28 January 2013
by Richard Forster
UN-Habitat Executive Director Joan Clos has announced the launch of a Global Consultation on Wastewater Management and Water Quality for the Post-2015 Agenda. The Consultation aims to build consensus around key water challenges related to the post-2015 development agenda.
“The pace of urbanisation is a critical issue,” said Clos. “The management of all forms of water, and especially wastewater, is often conveniently forgotten in the political debate while in reality it is a time bomb waiting to explode. With current extreme climate events, contaminated water is likely to constitute an increasingly important risk to public health and a threat to recovery from disaster.”
The Background Framing Paper to the consultation,Wastewater Management and Water Quality, includes several key messages. It argues for increased awareness on the linkages between energy and water, noting the role of water for energy production and the role of energy in water management. The paper calls for further understanding of the scale and urgency of water issues within the context of climate change, urbanisation and other demographic changes. It recommends the development of pollution control policies and a shift in thinking towards a resource recovery perspective to promote wastewater collection, treatment and reuse.
“A new emphasis should be placed on the prevention of wastewater as a critical component in order to ensure efficiency of the water cycle,” added Clos. “This is best done by reducing the consumption of water to acceptable levels and by reducing the amount of harmful pollutants entering the water system.”
UN-Habitat will lead the consultation, as part of the Thematic Consultation on Water, which will solicit views from people at all levels to determine the key priorities.
The consultation began in mid-January with an online debate on the World We Want 2015 website and will end on 17 February. It will culminate in a high-level meeting on the Post-2015 Development Agenda on Water: Water Resources Management and Wastewater Management & Water Quality in Geneva from 27-28 February.
