This panel builds on Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era, the flagship report of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH). The report’s author is Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of UNU-INWEH and 2026 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate. Drawing on decades of research on water systems, sustainability and governance, it argues that the world has entered an era of “global water bankruptcy.” In this era, long-term water use has exceeded renewable supplies and ecological limits, leaving many freshwater systems under mounting stress.
The session links this diagnosis to a proposal from H.E. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan: a dedicated UN international water organization, put forward in response to fragmented global water governance. Speakers will explore what the proposal could mean for the future of water governance and development. They will also consider what a new water agenda must address as water scarcity grows, ecosystems degrade, the climate becomes less predictable, and demands for water compete. A central question is how governments, institutions, businesses and communities can align water management, investment and development planning with twenty-first-century realities.
The panel brings together government officials, UN entities and other international organizations, financial institutions, the private sector and scientists. It will map the road from COP31 in Antalya to the 2026 UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi and identify the governance, diagnostic and financing priorities a new water agenda needs.
Agenda:
- 4:00–4:10 High-Level Opening Remarks
- 4:10–4:15 Global Water Bankruptcy and the Road to Abu Dhabi
- 4:15–5:10 Stakeholder Reflections: Priorities for a New Water Agenda
- 5:10–5:25 Q&A
- 5:25–5:30 Closing Remarks
