The water agenda at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28)

CCB • December 20, 2023

The UN defines the climate crisis primarily as a water crisis. We are feeling its effects in the form of increasing floods, rising sea levels, shrinking glaciers, forest fires, and droughts. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Report on the State of World Water Resources for 2022, which contains an extensive assessment of global water resources, the hydrological cycle is out of balance as a result of climate change and human activities. Droughts, extreme rainfall, and other effects of climate change have a serious impact on life and the economy, threatening the long-term security of water resources for many millions of people. Despite the obvious link between water and climate policy, the water agenda has yet to be mentioned in the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement, and it is only in the last few years that the presence of water issues in the debates at annual climate conferences has gradually increased. 


Learn more about climate change in the Baltic Sea region here and here.


COP28 was very promising for the global water community. Even though official documents do not contain significant formulations of the role of water in fighting climate change, nevertheless, we can identify a general trend toward increasing the importance of the role of water resources in the climate agenda. So at last year's COP 27 conference in Egypt, the topic of water was finally included in the main outcome document. During COP 28, water issues began to rise even more sharply. Can we expect progress in integrating water and climate policies? There are grounds for hope for this, the main results of COP 28 in the context of water issues are presented below. The topic of water was also discussed at high-level discussions, as well as side events in various pavilions. The two main points of attraction were "Water for Climate" and "Ocean" pavilions.


During high-level discussions held at COP28 on the thematic days on Peace, Security, and Health and on Agriculture, Food, and Water, UNECE and its partners stressed the critical need for joint water management across borders at the center of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Key measures discussed include strengthened cooperation under the UN Water Convention. The Transboundary Water Cooperation Coalition, comprising over 40 governments and organizations published a new policy brief about transboundary risk management. Learn more here. 


UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean stated: “Climate change is already having huge impacts on water resources, which for 153 countries worldwide are shared with their neighbors. I encourage all UN Member States to join the UN Water Convention and to catalyze climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts through transboundary water cooperation. This can benefit peace and stability, clean energy production, flood and drought resilience, sanitation, financing for adaptation in shared basins, and much more.”


This call was further reinforced by a new analytical note published by the Coalition for Transboundary Water Cooperation, which includes more than 40 Governments and organizations. The summary shows how, through the exchange of hydrological and other data, countries can better understand and address transboundary risks, improve forecasting of extreme events, and coordinate their response to natural disasters. Find out more and read a brief overview of the policy here.


As a result of the negotiations, the ocean became part of the COP 28 agreement for the first time. This is a significant achievement since the Paris Agreement and recognition of the important role of our ocean in the climate system. The world's oceans act as a carbon sink, absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and we will not achieve our climate goals without protecting it.

The final text agreed at COP 28 notes “the importance of ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems, including [...]the ocean.” The text also invites parties to “conserve and restore oceans and coastal ecosystems and expand, if necessary, actions based on ocean mitigation capabilities.”


18 countries have signed the Joint Declaration on Ocean and Climate Action, which recognizes the urgent need for the sustainable management of 100% of the world's oceans under national jurisdiction, and they call on countries around the world to join commitments to preserve the long-term health and resilience of the ocean.


One of the most attended sessions in the program of the pavilion "Water for Climate" was the statement of Kazakhstan and France on the joint holding of the United Water Summit together with the UN General Assembly in September 2024. As Karin Gardes noted afterward, this event will serve as a natural bridge between events on next year's water agenda, such as World Water Week 2024 and COP29.


On Food, Agriculture, and Water Day at COP28 - December 10, 38 countries joined the Freshwater Challenge, the world's largest initiative to restore degraded rivers, lakes, and wetlands to protect and restore 30 percent of the planet's degraded freshwater ecosystems by 2030. The target announced at the UN Water Conference 2023 aims to restore more than 300,000 km of rivers and 350 million hectares of wetlands by 2030, or about 30% of the degraded freshwater ecosystems of the Earth.


The main results of COP28 are the approval of the Global Stocktake (GST), as well as the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA). Both of these documents include water issues.


The GST is an overall assessment of progress in the fight against climate change over the past seven years. The main conclusion is that despite the progress we have made, we are far from the goal of keeping the temperature rise within 1.5 °C. It is important for water and climate here that the preamble of the GST recognizes the crucial role of water systems and water-related ecosystems. In doing so, the GST followed the precedent set by the COP27 decision, which for the first time recognized the role of freshwater in fighting climate change.


The highlight of the conference was the adoption of the GGA structure. Global adaptation goals have been defined to increase resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change worldwide. According to the results of COP28, water is listed as the first thematic goal in the GGA. This opens up additional opportunities to reduce vulnerability to the climate crisis, provided that the financing of adaptation projects is increased and the goals set are achieved.


Water resources, especially freshwater, are considered more likely to be a source of problems related to the effects of climate change, but water can and should be part of both mitigation and adaptation to climate change. The results of COP28 in this regard can hardly be called unambiguously successful, but it is safe to say that significant progress has been made in this over the past 2 years. We would like to believe that there will be an understanding and recognition that actions to fight climate change may ultimately be in vain if we do not give priority to water security issues.


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Article written by Anna Ushakova, CCB Maritime Working Area Leader

COP30 brings ocean and water to the center of climate policy

By CCB • December 5, 2025
In Belém, in the heart of the Amazon, the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference COP30 immediately set the bar high. In his opening speech, Brazilian President Lula da Silva stressed that climate change is no longer a "threat to the future", but a tragedy that the world is already experiencing here and now, and called on countries to accelerate actions rather than limit themselves to promises. However, as is often the case in COP meetings, the political reality turned out to be more complicated than ambitions. Negotiations were difficult: the countries could not agree on a clear and binding plan to phase out fossil fuels. It is important to note that the Global Action Plan has provided a platform for discussing the development of a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change. At the same time, COP30 has brought tangible progress in other areas: the countries agreed to triple the amount of adaptation funding for developing countries by 2035, strengthened the forest and ocean agenda, and expanded the range of practical initiatives under the Action Agenda . COP30 consolidated the trend: from "water at the center of the climate crisis" to a holistic ocean agenda closely related to energy, food, biodiversity and sustainable coastal development. From the COP29 Water Declaration to the COP30 Enhanced Ocean Water Program At COP29 in Baku, the Declaration on Water for Climate Action was adopted , with the aim to applying comprehensive approaches to combating the causes and consequences of climate change for water basins, emphasizing also the need to integrate water-related mitigation and adaptation measures into national climate policies, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). COP30 did not reverse this logic, but expanded it towards the ocean and coasts. Both processes "aquatic" and "oceanic" are moving in the same direction: integration of water, coasts and ocean into the climate plans of countries; development of nature-based solutions; strengthening transboundary management of water and marine systems; recognizing adaptation as an equal part of climate policy, rather than an "adjunct" to emissions reduction. Task Force on Oceans and the Blue NDC Challenge The international Task Force on Oceans , led by Brazil and France, was officially presented at the high-level ministerial meeting "From Ambition to Implementation: Delivering on Ocean Commitments" on 18 November, integrating oceans into a global mechanism to accelerate the incorporation of marine solutions into national climate plans. The Blue Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Challenge encourages countries to set ocean protection targets when updating their NDCs. The goal is to transition the Blue NDC Challenge into an Implementation Task Force. Members of the Blue NDC Challenge, currently 17 countries, can adopt a broad set of actions aimed at the protection and sustainable use of the oceans.These measures include the sustainable management, conservation, and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems, supported by tools such as marine spatial planning, integrated coastal zone management, and climate-aligned marine protected areas. Countries are also encouraged to support sustainable and climate-resilient fishing and aquaculture, ensuring ocean health and long-term food security. B razil has set a clear example: its updated NDC includes a separate chapter on the ocean and coastal zones. For the first time, the national climate plan (Plano Clima) until 2035 includes a thematic adaptation plan for these areas. Priorities include the completion of national Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) by 2030 and major programs for the conservation and restoration of mangroves and coral reefs (ProManguezal, ProCoral).

Pathway to Tox-Free Living: Policy and Action

By CCB • November 24, 2025
Leading scientists, consumer advocates and policymakers gathered on November, 18th in Brussels for the conference "From Evidence to Policy: Toward a Tox free Living Environment" . They warned that exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in homes and consumer products represents a silent but severe public health and economic crisis. New findings presented to over 65 participants by the EU Baltic Sea Interreg project NonHazCity3 , LIFE ChemBee and the ToxFree LIFE for All projects as well as revealed widespread contamination of European households by complex chemical mixtures of hormone system disrupting substances (so called endocrine disrupters – EDCs) that contribute to chronic disease and impose enormous health costs. According to the key note speaker Dr. Aleksandra Rutkowska, the home environment is a significant source of exposure to EDCs through indoor air, dust and daily contact with common products. Current research links such exposure to a shocking amount of lifestyle diseases including 22 cancer outcomes, 18 metabolic disorder outcomes and 17 cardiovascular disease outcomes. Scientists also stressed that the crisis spans generations. EDCs trigger epigenetic changes that not only affect today’s population but also future children and even grandchildren. Other effects include reproduction disorders. Over the last decade, 150 million babies were born preterm, and evidence shows that reducing the use of plastics by half could cut the risk of preterm birth by half as well.