World Water Week opened on 23 August with calls for massive transformations of 
our societies. Participants from all over the world will spend the coming week 
developing solutions to help the world address challenges such as water 
scarcity, the climate crisis, poverty, and biodiversity loss. 

Thirty years after it was initiated, the World Water Week 2021 has been 
redesigned for maximum impact. The world's leading water conference is held 
23-27 August as a free, online event on the theme Building Resilience Faster. 

Participants from over 150 countries will co-create actionable solutions. 
"We want World Water Week to be an action platform engaging all," said Henrika 
Thomasson, Director World Water Week at Stockholm International Water 
Institute, the World Water Week organizer. 

"Collaboration across borders is more important than ever. In the coming 
decade, all sectors of society need to undergo massive transformations," 
explained Executive Director Torgny Holmgren, stressing the crucial role of 
water for these transformations and for reaching the climate targets and the 
Sustainable Development Goals. 

In his keynote, Professor Johan Rockstrom from the Potsdam Institute for 
Climate Impact Research, described how humans are dangerously altering Earth's 
life support systems. One example is how freshwater is impacted by the change 
humans are causing in climate and biodiversity. Rockstrom and his team have 
identified freshwater as one of the nine planetary boundaries that should not 
be crossed. "Freshwater must be integrated within the climate agenda," 
Rockstrom said. "We must first meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, 
but then transform towards a safer future within planetary boundaries." 

The world is however not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, 
warned Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations when 
interviewed by host Alok Jha during the Opening ceremony. "Before Covid we were 
off track and after Covid, even more so," she noted. "But the recovery could 
get us back on track. There is a silver lining there. There are things that we 
can scale up, there are things that we can put more at the centre of the 
investments that we are asking for now."

Participants can enjoy 400+ sessions. Highlights of the Week include the royal 
award ceremonies for the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize and Stockholm Junior 
Water Prize. 

Learn more: worldwaterweek.org

Press contact: Andreas Karlsson andreas.karlsson@siwi.org, +46-(0)720-506004

Source:  Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)