5 Reasons why 2023 could be the best year yet for freshwater

On the last day of 2022, I enjoyed a quintessential Pacific Northwest walk on Vancouver's North Shore. Traveling into the headwaters of the Capilano watershed, I mused on the year that was, and the year to come. But with my two kids in tow, the future was more on my mind than the year that was. For me, 2023 brings with it a lot of optimism (a job requirement to some extent if you work in non-profit!) and here are a few of the biggest reasons why:

(1) The UN Water Summit: Coming up in March of this year will be the first global UN summit on water in many decades. While it isn't expected to result in a new convention (i.e., we won't be adding to the Transboundary Watercourse Convention or the Ramsar Convention), it will shine a much-needed light on freshwater on the global stage. With freshwater being central to the impacts of climate change, but often falling into the shadow of its linked challenge, the event promises to act as a rally point for those of us working on Freshwater. If we can build on the momentum of freshwater champions like Mina Guli we can use the event to galvanize action. It is a huge opportunity to move forward activity and WWF will be there, launching various reports, frameworks and tools - so stay tuned!

(2) New approaches to collaboration: One of the core elements I'll be pushing towards for New York will be new approaches to collective action. While I've had my share of frustrations with NGOs often competing when we typically have very aligned missions, I'm excited by one key effort in 2023 that I'm working on with a lot of my peers which will culminate in some new thinking and testing out some new approaches to collaborating at scale. If we don't scale up our efforts to work together, we aren't going to deliver. But that's what's now happening, and it gives me great hope to see these sorts of conversations going forward. If successful, it may signal some radically new ways for those of us in the non-profit world to work together and deliver greater impacts. Look out for a new report amongst a series of leading thinkers - including some mapping on "where" we plan to scale up collaboration - coming in March of this year.

(3) The rise of big data & tech: Another theme that will be present in spades at New York and the UN Water Summit will be the growing abundance of tools, data and technology often captured under the banner of the 4th Industrial Revolution. We are in an era where technology has the potential to radically transform how we do conservation work and its already affecting my work. Not only are we using data from Open Supply Hub to bring big data to inform opportunity identification, but we're working on the next generation of hydrological data infrastructure via HydroSHEDS 2.0, and leveraging the ever-increasing amount of earth observation data in tools like Global Water Watch. We also have the new #WaterRiskFilter suite coming this month - including the new Biodiversity Risk Filter tool. These tools and platforms are bringing new insights, and more importantly, new opportunities to work in ways that were impossible but a few years ago. Adding the new capabilities of the newly launched SWOT satellite and 2023 will bring more exciting insights from tech.

(4) New funding, and financing, coming to the table: While COP27 brought a substantial new tranche of funding for climate impacts (i.e., freshwater!), what is more exciting to me is the rise of water-related financing, including notably, the rise of corporate green bonds. While most of these bonds are targeted at carbon mitigation, we know that where climate carves a pathway, water flows along. We're now seeing corporate bonds to the tune of $500M to $1B+ being issued by companies and this quickly adds up. With companies increasingly tackling not only their operations, but supporting their supply chains and source watersheds with these funds, we have the potential in 2023 to really start landing projects at the scale that will really affect meaningful change.

(5) Phenomenal people: Perhaps more than anything else, what gives me hope is those who surround me on a daily basis. My team - Rylan Dobson , Ariane Laporte-Bisquit , Rafael Camargo , Issa Meza , Saba Dar , Payal Luthra are stars. Professional, passionate, whip smart - this small, but mighty team is only a fraction of what is within WWF (which also includes an incredible core Freshwater Practice team: Stuart Orr , Philip Leonard , Jessie Schwartz , Lucy Polhill , Richard Lee , Christine Colvin , Jeff Opperman , Francesca Antonelli , Marc Goichot , Paula Martinelli and Kathy Hughes ), and off of whom are only a part of the broader community working to save freshwater and its stunning & hugely valuable habitats and species. I'm always taken by how amazing my peers are and if there is hope for any of us when it comes to freshwater, its knowing the incredible people that have the opportunity (and privilege) to fight for freshwater on a daily basis. Some of the world's brightest and best are on the file, so here's to seeing them all shine in 2023!

So next time you take a walk, go visit your local freshwater body - be it a trickling stream, a small wetland, a local lake or a mighty waterfall - and contemplate why you're optimistic for 2023. Now, let's get to it - time's ticking!