11 October 2013: The Budapest Water Summit brought together participants representing governments, international organizations, civil society, academia and the private sector. The Summit discussed, in particular, the developments within and without the UN system on the development of water-related goals for the post-2015 development agenda.

The Summit, which convened from 8-11 October 2013, in Budapest, Hungary, took place in the context of the UN International Year of Water Cooperation 2013, the outcome of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) ‘The Future We Want,’ and the ongoing post-2015 development agenda process to negotiate sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The meeting included the high-level Summit and, in parallel, the Science Forum, the Civil Society Forum, the Youth Forum and the Business Leaders Forum. Side events and a Water and Sanitation Expo took place throughout the meeting. The Summit and Fora addressed themes including: integrated water resources management (IWRM); access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); good water governance; the water, energy and food nexus; water in the context of the green economy; and investment and finance.

The Budapest Water Summit addressed these issues in sessions and high-level panels, including: striving for universal access to water and sanitation; addressing WASH issues; implementing IWRM for the 21st century; serving a growing population with water in a changing climate; implementing good water governance; governing water wisely with specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) SDGs; enabling a green economy for blue water; investing and financing to address the global water and sanitation crisis and related SDG; and leveraging finance.

Addressing the opening session of the Summit, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underscored the multiplying impact of climate change on water scarcity, calling for less water-intensive and more climate-resilient crops. On Wednesday evening, a special high-level panel took place on the water-energy-food nexus and a philanthropy roundtable convened on Thursday evening. On Friday afternoon, the Summit adopted the Budapest Statement, calling for a water-related SDG and the establishment of an intergovernmental mechanism on water. [IISD RS Coverage of the Budapest Water Summit] [Budapest Water Summit Website] [UN Press Release] [Ban’s Statement]