International cooperation is urgent to tackle drought

Prime Minister António Costa claimed it is urgent we develop international cooperation to tackle water scarcity at the launch of the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA) during the United Nations Climate Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

"As Prime Minister of a country that suffered one of the worst droughts ever this year, I wish to congratulate the developers for launching this alliance and offer our support and availability to contribute to transforming it into a valuable platform", António Costa claimed.

The Prime Minister said that no one can afford the luxury of seeing drought and water scarcity as a phenomenon associated with extreme climate events, as its frequency shows that we are now facing the impact of climate change.

"It is urgent for us to adapt to this harsh reality. Placing water scarcity and drought at the top of the international political agenda is fundamental to helps us unite more stakeholders, exchange knowledge, technology, and experiences. Droughts represent a significant challenge for our societies", he underlined.

António Costa also said that it is likewise urgent that we abandon practices that affect underground water quality and their pollution by fertilisers or other chemical compounds". 

"In a world where 40% of the world population is affected by water scarcity, where 80% of wastewater are still discharged into the environment and where more than 90% of catastrophes are water-related, as the Un Secretary-General [António Guterres] reminds us, it is urgent that we strengthen water governance", he added.

In this context, one of the priorities should be avoid wasting drinking water, each citizen contributing "with small gestures to achieve significant water savings".

"Yet we also need to act collectively to adapt our agricultural policy to have more efficient use of water and to ensure loyal trade for all", he claimed.

In the more developed countries, we need to invest in infrastructures to distribute water to reduce water loss and "in the lesser developed countries, we need to install efficient water distribution systems to ensure everyone has access to drinking water. And it is also imperative that we care for the existing water reserves", he added.

IDRA is an initiative by the Head of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez and the President of Senegal, Macky Sall. The launching session was also attended by the Presidents of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen and the European Council Charles Michel.