The Budapest Water Summit: A Sustainable Development Goal on Water

From 8 to 11 October stakeholders from governments, civil society, the private sector, and academia convened in Budapest to participate in discussions on the importance of water for the post-2015 development agenda and the inlcusion of a specific water-related goal therein.

Right at the beginning of the summit, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasised the undeniable importance of water for sustainable development and its inextricable linkage with issue areas such as climate change, food security, and sanitation. While stressing that "[w]ater holds the key to sustainable development", Mr Ban also took account of hitherto unresolved conflicts arising, for example, from its use in agriculture.

On the last day of the summit, the Budapest Statement was adopted, which demands the inclusion of a water-related Sustainable Development Goal in the post-2015 development agenda and the introduction of an intergovernmental mechanism on water.

To read the Budapest Water Summit statement, please click here.