UN / WATER CONFERENCE PRESSER

STORY: UN / WATER CONFERENCE PRESSER
TRT: 02:58
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 22 MARCH 2023, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:
1. Close up, United Nations logo, entrance, UN headquarters
2. Wide shot, speakers, briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Johan Rockström, Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK):
“We are today changing the entire hydrological cycle. We're pushing the water cycle out of balance; we can no longer trust the very source of old freshwater, precipitation, which we normally take for granted in all our plannings.”
4. Med shot, speakers, briefing room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Johan Rockström, Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK):
“We cannot only focus on Transboundary River basins of blue water runoff, but we also need to have collective action on managing the entire water cycle between countries. That's why we propose of defining water as a global common good and an asset that needs to be managed as a collective good. And we need to have an integrated approach that does not only focus on blue water runoff but also green water, the soil, and water that powers all the photosynthesis, all the biomass, all the food security, meaning freshwater behind all the Sustainable Development Goals.”
6. Wide shot, speakers, briefing room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO):
“The new economics of water needs to promote more efficient use of water and encourage investment in water infrastructure. But let me be clear, this need not be and indeed should not be seen as conflicting with the fundamental commitment to equity and water access for all. I want to stress that, in fact, efficient water use is what makes greater water access possible. To optimize water conservation and minimize water waste, we need to incentivize everyone to use water wisely.”
8. Med shot, speakers, briefing room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO):
“We think that trade can be part of the answer of enabling crops to grow in areas, water-intensive crops, to grow in areas where there is water and leave in water-scarce regions to focus on those crops that are more appropriate because you can trade between the two.”
10. Wide shot, speakers, briefing room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mariana Mazzucato, Professor, University College London /Founding Director, Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, University College London (UCL):
“The idea of this collective problem that needs collective intelligence needs solutions. That means that along the way, the process through which we get there really, really matters. So, the idea that we actually have to unpick the current property, rights? And make sure that they're actually inclusive and not just benefiting the few.”
12. Wide shot, speakers, briefing room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, Singapore
“We got to shift our mindset towards recognizing that the problem is global, not just local. Second, recognizing that the solution is not about, does not involve aid but involves investment. And that has to be a collective investment that brings together public and private sources so as to lower the cost of capital in the developing world for water investments.”
14. Wide shot, end of briefing

STORYLINE:
The Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW) calls for a new, collective approach to water and bold actions to secure a just and sustainable future for all.

The GCEW provided the UN 2023 Water Conference with a first report with a fundamental reassessment of how we manage and value water and its intrinsic role on the path to a more sustainable future.

At a press conference today (22 Mar) at the UN Water Conference in New York, the four Co-Chairs of the Commission presented the key findings of “Turning the Tide: A Call to Collective Action,” a GCEW report which alerts the world to a growing global water crisis and lays out actions that can and must be taken urgently and collectively to address it.

According to GCEW, the world can only get out of this impasse by moving collectively and urgently in the current decade: through actions that are bolder, more integrated, and networked at national, regional, and global levels.

Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), said, “We are today changing the entire hydrological cycle. We're pushing the water cycle out of balance; we can no longer trust the very source of old freshwater, precipitation, which we normally take for granted in all our plannings.”

He stressed, “We cannot only focus on Transboundary River basins of blue water runoff, but we also need to have collective action on managing the entire water cycle between countries. That's why we propose of defining water as a global common good and an asset that needs to be managed as a collective good. And we need to have an integrated approach that does not only focus on blue water runoff but also green water, the soil, and water that powers all the photosynthesis, all the biomass, all the food security, meaning freshwater behind all the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), said, “We think that trade can be part of the answer of enabling crops to grow in areas, water-intensive crops, to grow in areas where there is water and leave in water-scarce regions to focus on those crops that are more appropriate because you can trade between the two.”

Mariana Mazzucato, Professor at the University College London (UCL) and Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose said, “The idea of this collective problem that needs collective intelligence needs solutions. That means that along the way, the process through which we get there really, really matters. So, the idea that we actually have to unpick the current property, rights? And make sure that they're actually inclusive and not just benefiting the few.”

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies of the Government of Singapore, concluded, “We got to shift our mindset toward recognizing that the problem is global, not just local. Second, recognizing that the solution is not about, does not involve aid but involves investment. And that has to be a collective investment that brings together public and private sources so as to lower the cost of capital in the developing world for water investments.”