COP31 Summit: Why Water Must Be Central to Climate Action and Adaptation

For three decades, the global response to climate change has primarily focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with the energy transition at its core. This focus has shaped national policies, driven investment, and spurred innovation. However, as the world grapples with the escalating consequences of climate change already in progress, it is imperative that water receives equal prominence in our adaptation strategies.

Water is the most immediate way many people experience climate change. Through prolonged droughts, devastating floods, and increasingly erratic rainfall, its impacts directly affect lives, jeopardizing food production, livelihoods, public health, and economic stability. Therefore, if energy has been the defining concern of climate mitigation, water must become the defining concern of adaptation. Crucially, this recognition must be accompanied by adequate resources.

While water is already included in the national climate plans of most countries and is frequently cited in their adaptation measures, its inclusion does not automatically translate into meaningful action. Investment remains insufficient, fragmented, and poorly coordinated. The World Bank estimates that closing the annual financing gap for universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation requires between $131 billion and $141 billion. This shortfall leaves communities without reliable drinking water, exposes children to preventable diseases, and threatens the livelihoods and security of populations vulnerable to drought and flooding.

Leaders must bridge the gap between their commitments and the allocation of resources needed for their fulfillment. Water infrastructure, sanitation, and resilient water management cannot remain underfunded priorities in national adaptation strategies. They demand sustained investment, clear accountability, and political leadership capable of transforming plans into tangible improvements for people.

There are promising examples of the leadership required. The Madrid Compact, endorsed by 30 governments, provides a framework for enhanced political commitment, integrated policies, sustainable financing, and accountability. The Heads of State Initiative, supported by Sanitation and Water for All, has demonstrated how national leadership can translate commitments on water and sanitation into concrete action. These approaches warrant broader application.

Similar determination is needed on the international stage. Water serves as a crucial link between the three Rio Conventions—addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation. Yet, their respective efforts do not always reflect the interconnected nature of these challenges or the central role water plays across all three. COP31 presents an opportunity to rectify this. I urge world leaders to give water a more prominent and systematic place across the Rio Conventions, ensuring that policies, programs, and investments are better aligned.

This endeavor does not necessitate new institutions or additional bureaucracy. It calls for enhanced coordination through existing structures, recognizing water as a shared priority rather than an issue confined to isolated policy discussions. This commitment should then extend to the UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi in December, co-hosted by the UAE and Senegal. The conference offers a vital platform to channel the political momentum generated at COP31 into a more coherent international approach, with water firmly integrated into the global response to interconnected environmental challenges.

We cannot afford to treat adaptation as secondary to mitigation, or water as secondary to adaptation. Leaders must acknowledge water's fundamental importance to the security, prosperity, and well-being of their populations, match their commitments with the necessary investment, and collaborate across the Rio Conventions. The decisions made at COP31 and subsequently at the Abu Dhabi conference can lay the political groundwork for a more water-secure future. What is now required is the resolve to act.