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Seventh Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

17-19 November 2015 | Budapest, Hungary


Highlights for Tuesday, 17 November 2015

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Daily Web CoverageAbout | 17 Nov | 18 Nov | 19 Nov | Summary

A view of the room during the high-level session

The seventh session of the Meeting of the Parties to the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention MOP7) opened today at the Budapest Congress Centre in Budapest, Hungary, with over 350 delegates from 75 countries.

Amb. Csaba Kőrösi, Director for Environmental Sustainability, Office of the President, opened the meeting on behalf of János Áder, President of Hungary. UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, sent a video message to the meeting. Laszlo Ferkai, on behalf of Sándor Pintér, Minister of Interior, Hungary, Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, and Christian Friis Bach, UNECE  Executive Secretary, also addressed delegates in the opening session.

High-level delegates then took part in a Special Session on the global opening of the Water Convention and its contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other global commitments. Speakers highlighted the importance of international cooperation on water for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and averting conflict over water scarcity in the future.

Two side events took place during the first day: a high-level event on the EU Water Initiative National Policy Dialogues; and an event on “Cooperating in transboundary basins – what are the benefits?”.

In the afternoon, a short celebration took place with countries and basins that signed in Budapest or will sign the “Paris Pact on water and adaptation to climate change in the basins of rivers, lakes and aquifers,” an adaptation commitment that will be presented at the Paris Climate Change Conference in December (UNFCCC 21st Conference of Parties).

In the evening, delegates went on a river cruise with dinner on board, on the invitation of host country Hungary.

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage and a summary report from the 7th Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes. Our summary report of the meeting is available in HTML or PDF format.

The plenary started with a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the recent terror attacks.

Csaba Kőrösi, Director for Environmental Sustainability, Office of the President on behalf of Mr. János Áder, President of the Republic of Hungary

Francesco La Camera, Director General, Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, Italy

Laszlo Felkai, Hungary, on behalf of Sándor Pintér, Minister of Interior of Hungary

Christian Friis Bach, United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Executive Secretary, UNECE

Video message by the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General
Jan Eliasson

Márta Sebestyén sang a traditional Hungarian song

Fadi Comair, Director General, Hydraulic and Electrical Resources, Lebanon

Hannele Pokka, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment, Finland

Mohsin Asfoor Lafta Al­Kurd, Minister of Water Resources, Iraq

Ylber Mirta, Head of Department of Water, Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Yerlan Nyssanbaev, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Kazakhstan

Rafig Verdiyev, Azerbaijan

Ainun Nishat, Bangladesh

Jean-Paul Lickes, Luxembourg, on behalf of the EU

Inussa Baldé, Guinea-Bissau

Toupta Boguena, Chad

Bosko Kenjic, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Nebojsa Kukuric, International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC)

From L-R: Xavier Sticker, Ambassador for the Environment, France; Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Ghana; Nicholas Hanley, Acting Director for International Policies, Global and Regional Challenges, DG Environment, European Commission; Massimo Cozzone, Chair; Moderator Ambassador Csaba Kőrösi, Director for Environmental Sustainability, Office of the President of the Hungarian Republic; Francesca Bernardini, UNECE; Thai Lai Nguyen, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam; Sergii Kurykin, Acting Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Ukraine; and Marco Toscano-Rivalta, Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)

Xavier Sticker, Ambassador for the Environment, France

Marco Toscano-Rivalta, UNISDR

Sergii Kurykin, Acting Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Ukraine

Thai Lai Nguyen, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Ghana

Nicholas Hanley, Acting Director for International Policies, Global and Regional Challenges, DG Environment, European Commission

Ambassador Csaba Kőrösi, Director for Environmental Sustainability, Office of the President of the Hungarian Republic, moderated the second part of the high-level session

Angela Klauschen, Global Water Partnership

Sherief Sharly, Egypt

Pilar Garcia Donoro, Spain

Group photo of the particiants that signed the Paris Pact on water and adaptation to climate change in the basins of rivers, lakes and aquifers

Jean-François Donzier, International Network of Basin Organizations, presented the Paris Pact

Jos Timmerman, the Netherlands

Sibylle Vermont, Switzerland

Sibylle Vermont, Switzerland, handing a lifesaver to Jos Timmerman, the Netherlands to protect him from sea-level rise

High-level side event on the EU Water Initiative and National Policy Dialogues

The panel during the side event

Ekaterine Grigalava, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of Georgia during the side event

Christian Friis Bach, UNECE, shaking hands with Andrian Delinschi, Moldova, after signing a Memorandum of Understanding

Nicholas Hanley, European Commission, with Iulian Jugan, Romania, who chaired the side event

Mathieu Bousquet, European Commission

Cooperating in transboundary basins - what are the benefits?

From L-R: Roberto Martin-Hurtado, Alboran Consulting Ltd; Nathalie Rizzotti, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; Harry Liiv, Ministry of Environment, Estonia; and Bernardas Paukstys, Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe

Roberto Martin-Hurtado, Alboran Consulting Ltd

Harry Liiv, Ministry of Environment, Estonia and Bernardas Paukstys, Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe

Room view during the side event
Daily Web CoverageAbout | 17 Nov | 18 Nov | 19 Nov | Summary