World Water Day has reached its quarter of a century milestone today.
The campaign day is held annually on 22 March to raise awareness of the challenges facing a world where currently ‘2.1 billion people live without safe drinking water at home’. This year’s theme is Nature for Water which calls for a focus on ‘nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21st century’.
And today marks the beginning of the UN Water Action Decade, with governments, businesses and individuals being urged to do more to protect the resource that sustains us all. Innovation will be key to doing this at scale. One recent study that revealed recycled wastewater performs as well as bottled water in a blind taste test, point to the types of solutions that need to be used.
“Water is essentially a political issue and must be dealt with at the highest decision-making levels. We have a great deal of scientific knowledge and we have a huge number of solutions to choose from, but policy-makers must make it a priority so these proposals can be put into practice,” said Benedito Braga World Water Council President.
World Water Day activities also support the progress of UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 – to give everyone access to clean and safe water by 2030.
Find out more on the actions you can take on the World Water Day website and join in the debate on Twitter using hashtag #WorldWaterDay
