Happy World Water Day! Accelerating change

Happy World Water Day! Accelerating change – This World Water Day is a special one as today is the start of the second ever UN Water Conference, the last one was 50 years ago! Given this important occasion, this month we look back to that first conference, why we need to hit the accelerator on SDG 6 and the impacts on capital markets from the upcoming ISSB standards. Plus, get on top of the top 10 trends in responsible investment in China.

Given the clear, growing and interlinked water risks facing the world that can’t be ignored anymore, we hope that some meaningful actions will come from the UN 2023 Water Conference.

However, Professor Asit Biswas and Dr Cecilia Tortajada, global water gurus, aren’t so hopeful. Professor Biswas was part of the first UN Water Conference in 1977 – see his reflections.

As Biswas & Tortajada point out, the lack of follow-up from the first Conference clearly indicates a neglect of water in the international political agenda and they don’t expect that to change in New York. Read more on why they think this here.

It’s not encouraging when global water gurus aren’t hopeful especially since the world is far from achieving SDG 6 – “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030”.

A sitrep on SDG 6 progress shows just how bad it is – 2 billion people still lack safely managed drinking water, 107 countries are not on track to have sustainably managed water resources, and it goes on. And now in developed countries where it’s been “solved”, unsafe waters are on the rise. It’s clear why this year’s World Water Day theme is “Accelerating change”.

How can we not have achieved SDG 6? We have driverless cars, space tourism and ChatGPT…. We need to hit the accelerator on SDG 6 and hard! Find out more in our World Water Day article, including what action you can take.

As we are calling to hit the accelerator on SDG 6, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling for “warp speed climate action now”, speaking at the recent release of IPCC’s AR6 Synthesis Report.

Guterres sums up the report well, “The climate time-bomb is ticking. But today’s IPCC report is a how-to guide to defuse the climate time-bomb. It is a survival guide for humanity.” We need to be doing it all and now because clearly climate change will only make achieving SDG 6 harder.

One way to accelerate change will be the ISSB standards, the soon to be new global baseline for sustainability reporting. Companies will need to be on top of climate risks more than ever before.

What does the ISSB mean for Hong Kong and global capital markets? What’s the timeframe for implementation? Get all the info in our interview with Securities & Futures Commission of Hong Kong’s CEO, Julia Leung.

Sustainability and ESG are also important in China as outlined in the Two Sessions (两会) held earlier this month. The Government Working Report emphasised the importance of ESG as a necessity to long-term growth.

Indeed, as SynTao Green Finance said, ESG is becoming part of the Chinese path to modernisation. Get on top of the top 10 trends in responsible investment in China.

So, on this special World Water Day let’s do it all – let’s hit the accelerator on SDG 6, let’s go warp speed on climate action, and let’s not allow it to be another 50 years before the next UN Water Conference! Happy World Water Day!