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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.
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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.
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