“We must work for water, for water to work for us” — UN Climate Change Executive Secretary addresses water-climate challenge
Most rivers in urban India receive untreated sewage directly and are converted into polluted ‘drains’
Original Published on 11 April 2023
On 11 April 2023, the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell called on States to increase international action and policy-making that places water at the forefront of efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change, and harnesses water as a nature-based solution to the climate emergency. Addressing the General Assembly at the UN Water Conference at the end of March, he said: “We must work for water, for water to work for us.” (source: https://unfccc.int/news/we-must-work-for-water-for-water-to-work-for-us-un-climate-change-executive-secretary-addresses)
Climate change is putting water resources under pressure, impacting critical sectors such as agriculture and food security, energy, and health, and reversing gains towards sustainable development.
The latest UWR water credits project registered (link: https://www.uwaterregistry.io/Registry/Details?id=MZaGzX%2Bzq6WPniD2xt6TRQ%3D%3D) highlights the catalytic role that corporate India must play in reducing industrial water consumption as well as water pollution per unit of industrial output.
The project showcases technologies that creates safe drinking water from a known contaminated river resource and has overcome the challenges faced by the alternate methods implemented and being proposed for the same by state water regulators.
The UN 2023 Water Conference was held from 22 to 24 March in New York with participants making commitments to tackle the global water crisis. It confirmed that water issues truly unite the world, as a determined global community came together to make a difference not only for the future of water but for the future of the world.
The UWR RoU program is the World’s 1st Water Credits Program that addresses the virtual water market and rewards climate action in areas such as rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, ETP/STP treated water gainful end use and other projects related to water conservation and management.
The most recent water credits project prioritizes and showcases best in class contaminated river water treatment and treated sludge management efforts, along with the reuse of treated river water for captive industrial use as a key corporate environmental intervention towards a more water secure India. More than 5 million water credits will be monetized from this project activity and will reward the project owner to recoup installation, O&M costs and showcase profitability in water projects to help build scale for the industrial sector.
The UWR water credit protocol showcases the successful approach towards treating environmental attributes (water credits) as an incentive tool wherein water credit buyers are offered utility in return for rewarding projects that help conserve water and prevent the depletion of critical groundwater and drinking water resources.
Only the UWR incentive model ensures the speed and scale needed to mitigate the impacts of climate change in India.
The potential of super sustainability blockchain tokens created with water credits holds immense opportunity for the de-fi space.
