26 April 2012: A high-level delegation, known as the Rio+20 Friends of Water group, called for the establishment of a global goal on water as an outcome of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) during a side event held on the margins of the second round of informal informal consultations on the zero draft of the outcome document.

A global goal on water was posited as a “building block” for sustainable development, and crucial for a set of possible sustainable development goals (SDGs). Ida Auken, Denmark’s Minister for the Environment, said a new global goal on water could ensure universal access to drinking water and basic sanitation. She suggested that sustainable water use could be guaranteed through integrated water resource management and increased resource efficiency.

Benefits of using the lessons learned from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a framework for the goal were reiterated during the event, and participants were reminded of the importance of “content, context and continuity” when developing water management goals.

The side event, held on 26 April 2012, was organized by the Permanent Missions of Finland, Hungary and Tajikistan to the UN, Denmark’s Ministry of the Environment, and Portugal’s Ministry of Agriculture, Sea, Environment and Spatial Planning. [IISD RS coverage of the side event]