The Water and Climate Leaders are a panel of eminent representatives of UN Members, civil society, and the private sector. Invited by WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas and UN Water Chair Gilbert Houngbo, the Water and Climate Leaders aim to set and pursue an integrated global Water and Climate Agenda in support of sustainable development and national mitigation and adaptation actions. Their focus is on catalyzing action through leadership and example.
The Panel provides strategic guidance on integrating the water and climate agendas, as well as maximizing synergies in designing and implementing actions to achieve SDGs 6 and 13, alongside ensuring effective climate action for adaptation and resilience.
Mr. Emomali Rahmon
President, Republic of Tajikistan
Mr. János Áder
Former President, Hungary
Mrs. Hilda Heine
Former President, Republic of the Marshall Islands
Mr. Komi Sélom Klassou
Former Prime Minister, Republic of Togo
Mr. Han Seung-soo
Former Prime Minister, Republic of Korea
Mr. Hani Sewilam
Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Egypt
Mr. Carl-Hermann Gustav Schlettwein
President, AMCOW; Minister, Republic of Namibia
Mr. Mark Harbers
Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management,
Kingdom of the Netherlands
Mr. Abdelkébir Zahoud
Former State Secretary for Water and Environment, Kingdom of Morocco
Mrs. Hannele Pokka
Professor; Former Minister, Republic of Finland
Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo
Director-General, ILO
Mr. Petteri Taalas
Secretary-General, WMO
Mrs. Mari Elka Pangestu
Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships, World Bank
Mr. Howard Bamsey
Former Chair, Global Water Partnership
Mrs. Lindsey Blodgétt
Former President, World Youth Parliament for Water
Water and Climate Leaders Call For
- An integrated water and climate approach — Recognizing the role of water for informed decision-making in climate change mitigation and adaptation action.
- International support to improve water data and information for a climate ready world — Working together to operationalise a Global Water Information Services that provides status, assessment, and outlook for smart climate and water-related decisions.
- Partners to join us in the implementation — Support solutions for sound decision making: a water and climate stocktake, a cryosphere information mechanism, a new financing rationale, local engagement, and river basin cooperation.
- Recognizing the need to protect glaciers — Understanding the role of glaciers as one of the most critical sources of freshwater and uniting forces in preserving these resources through an International Year of Glacier Preservation 2025.
To reach this goal the Leaders will:
- advocate at the highest political levels for an integrated global water and climate agenda
- mobilize relevant allies to support the implementation of an integrated Water and Climate Agenda
- propose tangible outcomes that will enhance integrating water and climate related data, including implementing the data and information pillar of the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework and the Water Action Decade
