Water is a major prerequisite as well as an important driver of green growth. However, in many places water leakages and waste are huge challenges and impediments for sustainable growth. “Why do we not see more performance-based contracts in the water sector?” was the question to the speakers in the session on financing urban water leakage solutions at the 3rd Global Green Growth Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark. “To make a partnership a success, the roles of every stakeholder must be clearly defined.

8 October 2013, Budapest, Hungary -  “We are here today, to prepare a long-term agenda because water is at the core of sustainable development,” said the President of the World Water Council, Benedito Braga this afternoon in the opening plenary of the Budapest Water Summit. “Our purpose is to define a common strategy to protect and enrich our common goods, our livelihoods, by putting water at the center of our development objectives,“ Mr. Braga stated.

“Tackling Water Risks to Ensure a Sustainable Future” was the title of the luncheon and roundtable discussions that were held at the UN Headquarters in New York on 25 September. The event, with the objective of having water considered in the SDG’s post 2015, was hosted by the Governments of Colombia, the Netherlands and Switzerland together with UNSGAB and the World Water Council, and with the participation of UN-Water.