UAEU /THE Conference SDG6 Water Impact

Speech by Chancellor Zaki Nusseibeh at the Times Higher Education Impact Forum held with the UAEU on “Accelerating Actions of SDG6 “Clean Water and Sanitation”.

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Monday September 11th, 2023

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Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, professors, colleagues, and friends. Welcome to this Times Higher Education Impact Forum.

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The United Nations has identified 17 sustainable development goals within its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The United Arab Emirates is committed to achieving each of these goals. The nation seeks to balance social and economic development with the imperative to protect our natural resources for future generations. Indeed 2023 is the Year of Sustainability in the UAE, and in December we will host the COP28.

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This Impact Forum focuses on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal Six – ‘Ensuring access to clean water and sanitation for all’.

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Water is one of our precious, invaluable natural resources. Without water, life on earth would not exist. It is fundamental to human life and essential to industrial, agricultural, and economic prosperity.

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However, according to the latest United Nations’ World Water Development Report, around 2 billion people worldwide do not have access to clean and safe drinking water, and 3.6 billion inhabitants lack adequate sanitation services.

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The availability of clean water and sanitation is a particular challenge for countries located in arid and semi-arid regions. Countries with less than one thousand cubic meters of renewable water resources are considered to be ‘water stressed’. In these regions conventional water resources including rainfall, surface water bodies, and groundwater resources are very scarce. Moreover, the overuse of these resources can lead to their depletion and salinization. It is for these reasons that the efficient management of water resources and the development of sanitation systems now lie at the top of the national agenda of these countries.

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Furthermore, climate change and the associated periods of drought are exacerbating the challenge faced by arid and semi-arid regions. Increasingly we experience both quantitative and qualitative decline in our water supplies.

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Ladies and Gentlemen!

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Your Forum is therefore significant and timely.

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The UAE recognizes the importance of access to clean water and sanitation as a fundamental human right. We are working to achieve Sustainable Development Goal Six through a range of initiatives.

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The nation has made significant investments to upgrade available infrastructure to ensure access to clean water and sanitation. It has introduced policy and regulations that promote water conservation and sustainable consumption. These also drive efficiencies in the use of treated wastewater, and they encourage the use of modern irrigation techniques.

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For its part, UAEU has established a Sustainable Development Goals Research Programme. The programme aims to find comprehensive solutions to the challenges of our future and to prepare students to be active researchers in fields of greatest concern. In the past academic year, our work was recognised for its impact towards 10 of these goals. We also have our ‘Roadmap Toward COP28 and Beyond’, and this Forum is part of the initiatives that build towards and follow on from that event.

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Moreover, our Research and Innovation Strategy 2023 – 2026 lists water as an identified theme. Undergraduate and graduate students engage in national and international research activities and competitions related to the conservation, development, management, and sustainability of water. Our National Water and Energy Center conducts important translational and applied interdisciplinary research and consultation addressing SDG6.

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Ladies and gentlemen!

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The achievement of SDG6 requires not only technological innovation and capacity building. It demands a fundamental rethink of the way we manage and safeguard water and sanitation. ?

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Making water and sanitation available to all is a global problem, and a mutual need. Thus, the identification and development of solutions are best achieved through international collaboration such as this Forum.

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Together, in your keynote presentations and panel discussions, you will consider practices and standards that ensure all individuals have access to clean water and sanitation. You will also explore the role of academic institutions and research centres in the pursuit of SDG6 and measures that can be taken locally. May I wish you a very productive and fruitful event.

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In closing, I wish to offer my gratitude to Times Higher Education for its organisation of the Forum in partnership with UAEU. I also extend my thanks to Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi University, Al Ain University, Trends Research and Advisory, and the Emirates News Agency for their collaboration.