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Joint press release by Germany and Spain on World Water Day
The Federal Foreign Office and the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation have issued the following statement to mark World Water Day:
The world is becoming ever “thirstier”. In 2050, demand for water could increase by 30 percent if the global population grows by two billion as expected. Water is our most precious resource, which we must use even more consciously and responsibly in the future. Only in this way can everyone worldwide enjoy the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, for which Germany and Spain are campaigning together. Safe drinking water and sanitation are essential for sustainable development and poverty eradication, and thus also for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
‘Nature for Water’ is the theme of this year’s World Water Day, and both must be protected sustainably, as our natural resources, such as forests or wetlands, fundamentally rely on water. This vital water cycle can only be preserved if we value nature as a whole.
Background information:
Germany and Spain have campaigned for many years for the human rights to water and sanitation, which have been designated as a separate Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In 2017, the German Government published a new water strategy, through which it will play an important part in implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the Paris Climate Agreement. Water is a priority in German development cooperation and was allocated over 400 million euros in funding by the German Government in 2017.