Photograph: University of California|iStock/Okssi68
The World Water Week-2024 officially kicks off with a theme, “Bridging Borders: Water for a Peaceful and Sustainable Future” today in Stockholm, Sweden.
Jon Lane, chair of the World Water Week’s Scientific Program Committee, has stressed the key roles of effective management and cooperation over water that can maximize security, collaboration and mutual understanding and thus peace.
“For any achievements and improvements to become sustainable, one of the prerequisites is the ability to maintain peace.”
For Andreas Karlsson, Head of Communication at Stockholm International Water Institute, “disturbances to the planet’s water cycle go deep enough to push ecosystems to the risk of collapse.”
He connects extreme weather events such as floods and droughts with the water and climate crises out of many other obstacles that prevent planet Earth from having a peaceful and sustainable future.
Dan Smith, Director of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said “water is a tool to conflict and a source of conflict” in a panel discussion about water, peace and security at the opening ceremony of WWWeek 2024.
He said governments should work on water regulation, cooperation, and governance to find a sustainable solution to water stress.
