The Seventh Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe” convened for its second day on Thursday 22 September in Astana, Kazakhstan. In the morning plenary, session Chair László Borbély, Minister of Environment and Forests, Romania, introduced the theme of the session, sustainable management of water and water-related ecosystems. He noted that payments for ecosystem services are an important instrument for ensuring a good water environment for human beings and public health. Participants heard several keynote addresses.

After the plenary, delegates convened in three parallel roundtables to discuss: effective policies to value and protect water-related ecosystems, including payments for ecosystem services; policies to address human health related to water quality and quantity; priorities and challenges to adapt water management to extreme weather events and climate change; and lessons learned from transboundary basin cooperation for water quality improvement and ecosystem protection.

In the afternoon, delegates reconvened in plenary to tackle sustainable management of water and greening the economy. Session Chair Bruno Oberle, State Secretary, Director of the Federal Office for the Environment, Switzerland, cautioned participants about current levels of natural resources consumption and stressed justice and participation as pillars for water sustainable management for the green economy. Participants heard a number of keynote addresses. After the plenary, delegates met in three parallel roundtables to discuss: policy tools for integrated water resources management (IWRM), including pricing and water users associations, and encouraging investments to take into account the impacts on water quantity and water quality, energy and resource efficiency and vulnerable populations.