Protecting Cultural Heritage Amid Climate Challenges: SD-WISHEES at UN-Water’s 40th Meeting
UN-Water held it’s 40th Meeting in New York on 3-4th November. The main agenda items were to discuss the preparatory work for the 2026 UN-Water Conference, and the development of the Collaborative Implementation Plans (CIP). The 2026 Conference will be co-hosted by Senegal and the United Arab Emirates on 2-4th December 2026. The CIP process builds on the commitments from the 2023 UN-Water conference to accelerate the implementation of SDG 6 whereby hundreds of organisations committed to a Water Action Plan. Other current items included activities from the various Expert Groups, in particular the preparations for World Toilet Day, and the forthcoming COP29 in Baku.
There were active discussions about the learnings from the 2023 event, suggestions for how to define success, and how to move the needle for the global agenda. The conversation centred on suggestions to advance efforts around the five areas encompassed in the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework - financing, data and information, capacity development, innovation and governance.
Amanda Loeffen from Human Right 2 Water, UN-Water Partner, attended this meeting, and she also had an opportunity to represent the EU project SD-WISHEES, concerning the effects of hydroclimatic extreme events on cultural heritage. It was tabled when the Expert Group on Climate presented the Water Analytical Brief on the Water Dependencies of Climate Mitigation as prepared for release at COP29. The Expert Group is looking for further opportunities to build on their work, and Amanda noted that it would be impactful to also consider how climate mitigation can support the protection of cultural heritage.