[Title] COP29 Declaration on Water for Climate Action

We, national governments and other stakeholders, including international organisations, financial institutions, philanthropies, private sector entities, academia, and civil society organisations;

Recognising that water is at the heart of climate change, with the majority of climate impacts being experienced worldwide through floods, droughts, glacier mass loss, landslides, degraded water quality, water scarcity and changing water availability, as well as other substantial changes in the water cycle at global and regional scales;

Emphasising the vital role that protecting, conserving, and restoring water resources, water basins, including seas, rivers and lakes, groundwater and other water-related ecosystems play in delivering effective climate action for both mitigation and adaptation;

Highlighting the critical role that the water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus plays for both climate mitigation and adaptation, and recognising that water is truly multisectoral and cross-cutting in its nature, and that without addressing water security within all relevant sectors, the climate and sustainable development goals will remain out of reach;

Alarmed that 2.2 billion people still do not have access to safe drinking water, and approximately half the world's population is currently subject to severe water scarcity with 3.5 billion lacking access to safely managed sanitation;

Concerned that one-fifth of the world's river basins are experiencing rapid changes in the area covered by surface waters, indicative of flooding and drought events associated with and exacerbated by climate change; glaciers have suffered the largest mass loss in 50 years; over 90 percent of disaster-affected people and nearly 95 percent of infrastructure loss and damage were impacted by water-related disasters; and that floods are one of the major sources of water pollution, threatening water quality and human health and safety; and noting that these challenges are linked to the degradation of water-related ecosystems and related biodiversity;

Acknowledging that addressing these challenges requires concerted efforts, strengthened actions, dialogue and partnerships at international, regional, national, river and basin levels, through applicable integrated and intersectoral approaches, as well as relevant water-related climate mitigation and adaptation actions for achieving the objective of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the goals of the Paris Agreement, and the objectives of the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience, set out in decision 2/CMA.5 on the global goal on adaptation;

Reaffirming our respective commitments under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification , the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention), as well as our collective support for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular its Sustainable Development Goal 6 and other related goals, the Pact for the Future and taking note of the UN 2023 Water Conference, the Water Action Agenda, United Nations General Assembly resolution 77/334, and UN Environment Assembly Resolution 6/13;

Welcoming the ongoing efforts on the margins of previous UN Climate Change Conferences to address water-related climate challenges and ecosystem degradation, including initiatives such as the Glasgow Partnership for Fair Water Footprints, the Action for Water Adaptation and Resilience Initiative (AWARe), the Freshwater Challenge, and the Enhancing Nature-based Solutions for an Accelerated Climate Transformation Partnership (ENACT), and the efforts made within the Water for Climate Pavilion;

Seeking to increase concerted efforts to strengthen leadership and cooperation on global water security, address climate change-induced water scarcity, water-related hazards, and disasters including water pollution, conserve, protect and restore water resources, water basins including seas, rivers, lakes, groundwater and other water-related ecosystems, including in the terrestrial and coastal areas adjacent to freshwater and marine environments, taking into account the perspectives of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, children, youth, migrants, persons with disabilities, and people in vulnerable situations.

In fulfilling these objectives by 2030, we resolve to:

1. Promote dialogue and partnerships among countries at international, regional, river and basin levels, to:

(a) Strengthen COP-to-COP synergies, continuity and coherence on water-related processes of the UN Climate Change Conferences, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification;

(b) Support the development of collaborative and aligned climate action and policy;

(c) Enhance the effective implementation of water-related initiatives launched on the margins of UN Climate Change Conferences, and coordinate with major multilateral water events, including the next UN Water Conferences in 2026 and 2028;

2. Strengthen the generation of scientific evidence on the causes and impacts of climate change on water resources, water basins and water-related ecosystems by leveraging existing knowledge platforms, as well as considering the creation of new regional knowledge hubs to:

(a) Promote sharing of knowledge and relevant data on climate observations and research, including on water cycle, water levels, fluctuations and depletion, as well as experiences and best practices;

(b) Promote access to technology and innovations;

(c) Utilise existing and, as required, develop new basin-wide climate scenarios, and climate risk and vulnerability assessments, including strengthening relevant monitoring and data-sharing mechanisms;

(d) Explore the links between conserving, protecting, restoring and sustainably managing water resources, water basins, and water-related ecosystems and their contribution to both climate mitigation and adaptation efforts;

3. Enhance water-related climate policy actions through:

(a) Effectively integrating water considerations in the design of climate policies, including national adaptation plans (NAPs) or strategies, nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and associated implementation plans, as well as national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs), as appropriate, using existing tools;

(b) Improving prevention, preparedness, resilience and recovery in response to water-related hazards and disasters, in particular strengthening national and regional early warning and anticipatory action systems for drought and flood prediction and mitigation of their impacts;

(c) Addressing water challenges by 2030 through enhancing sustainable and efficient use and management of water resources, water-related ecosystems, soil and land resources, improving environmental management, environmental quality regulations, pollution control, water quality monitoring and analysis, and early warning and monitoring systems, and help ensuring recycling, treating, and reusing of wastewater, control on runoffs and other relevant measures;

(d) Expanding the use of relevant integrated approaches such as integrated water resources management (IWRM), nature-based solutions (NbS), ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), source-to-sea approaches and other applicable tools and methods.

To enable the implementation of these actions we:

Launch the Baku Dialogue on Water for Climate Action as a COP-to-COP collaboration platform for continuous and coherent water-related climate action;

Support the Baku Dialogue on Water for Climate Action;

Resolve to contribute to the implementation of this Declaration in line with our respective mandates;

Encourage future Presidencies to reconvene the Baku Dialogue at each UN Climate Change Conference;

Explore future pathways to bolster the Baku Dialogue on Water for Climate Action, and enhance the implementation of activities planned under this platform.

States which endorsed "COP29 Declaration on Water for Climate Action"