UNEP representatives will be participating in the following events at World Water Week 2025.
Time zone: GMT+2 / CEST
📅 25 August | 🕒 11:00-12:15 hrs | 📍 Center Stage Room A1 Level 4
Opening Ceremony
The Opening aims to emphasize how World Water Week will promote that water management is not an isolated issue, but one that intersects with health, climate, resilience, development and environment. In line with the central component of the first Global Stocktake, which calls for transformational and multi-sectorial mitigation and adaptation action and support, streamlining water into other thematic areas and work programs is essential to increase cross-sectoral collaboration, leverage existing initiatives and impacts on the ground, mobilize private sector engagement and increase funding for proven best practices.
📅 25 August | 🕒 14:00-15:30 hrs | 📍 C1, level 2
SIWI Seminar: Tracking outcomes of global water and climate conferences (part 1 of 3)
This seminar focuses on how we define water- and climate-conference outcomes, on reflections that look back on previous water and climate conferences and forward towards future ones, and on the challenges of connecting global conferences and processes to regional and local water-climate action. As such, it aims to highlight the challenges and pathways for accountability of water and climate conference outcomes.
📅 25 August | 🕒 16:00-17:30 hrs | 📍 C1, level 2
SIWI Seminar: Strategic water and climate actions within planetary boundaries
This session explores how innovative water actions, particularly the reuse of wastewater and resource recovery, can underpin equitable water allocation, safeguard aquatic biodiversity, and address the emergence of novel chemicals. It highlights governance, innovation, and regulatory measures that keep water quality within safe planetary limits while also ensuring marginalised communities and local ecosystems are not left behind.
📅 26 August | 🕒 14:00-14:20 hrs | 📍 Talkshow studio, L5
Biodiversity, Human Rights and Climate Adaptation
This session will bring viewpoints on climate adaptation and mitigation from a solutions orientation and a human rights perspective, highlighting the right to biodiversity as a critical element to the sustainability agenda. It will explore the potential benefits that can be derived from introducing aquatic biodiversity as a right into climate adaptation solutions. The discussion will draw on biodiversity, human rights and development perspectives, and will consider the economic, social and cultural gains attributed to biodiversity; the technological and innovative approaches that are needed to protect biodiversity; and the connecting link between the human right to biodiversity and the human right to water.
📅 26 August | 🕒 14:00-15:30 hrs | 📍Room 27, Level 2
SIWI Seminar: Tracking outcomes of global water and climate conferences (part 2 of 3)
This discussion will examine specific considerations for accountability of outcomes and commitments from water and climate conferences. This includes the role of financing, connecting with other sectors beyond water, partnerships, and bottom-up collective action, as well as the role of evidence. As such, this session aims to integrate participant input for development of shared pathways towards greater accountability in the outcomes from water and climate conferences.
📅 27 August | 🕒 14:00-15:30 hrs | 📍 Online
SIWI Seminar: Tracking outcomes of global water and climate conferences (part 3 of 3)
This session focuses on case studies, tools, approaches, and solutions to improve accountability and follow up in achieving water and climate targets set at global conferences. To this end, it aims at increasing understanding of innovative pathways for monitoring water and climate conference outcomes, highlighting diverse youth perspectives for increasing inclusivity at future water and climate conferences.
📅 27 August | 🕒 16:00-17:30 hrs | 📍Room 27, Level 2
SIWI Seminar: Climate biodiversity water cycle agenda 2026 – shaping the path forward
This session will synthesize insights from climate and biodiversity discussions and provide a platform to experts to discuss how these two agendas can be aligned for impactful global action. This forward-looking discussion will focus on how the water sector can drive climate and biodiversity solutions, which leverages existing policy frameworks and sets the stage for high-level global commitments, and which is essential to define a collaborative climate-biodiversity agenda as we approach the UN 2026 Water Conference.
📅 28 August | 🕒 09:00-10:30 hrs | 📍C2, Level 2
Cooperation That Delivers: Realising transboundary water cooperation under climate pressure
This session will build a clearer picture of where and how action happens to strengthen cooperation over shared water, and what still needs to be done differently to accelerate progress. The session ultimately aspires to inspire governments, basin organisations, and other stakeholders to sustain and scale up efforts toward operational cooperation. This session supports SDG 6.5 (transboundary water cooperation), while also advancing SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 2 (food security), and SDG 7 (energy access).
