The World Impact Summit 2021 has ended today after 2 days (December 2-3) of inspirational talks, workshop and debates happened in Bordeaux, France. The event was structured in four main topics: objective net zero, circular economy, recovery planning, nature and biodiversity. These themes will be interconnected under a common umbrella and the crucial topic of the year: valuing water.
For this reason, Water Europe was actively involved during the event having five Members offering their contributions over 3 Sessions and 1 Workshop, including topics like: water and climate changes adaptations, acceleration of circularity in water consumption. Loïc Charpentier, Water Europe’s Policy Officer contributed to these 2 sessions with the following takeaways:
How European territories anticipate the effects of climate change?
✔ Anticipation and pro-activity are key to adapt our territories to climate change;
✔ Raising awareness on water-related challenges is also key to ensure inclusive governance and smooth adaptation to climate change;
✔ EU funds for innovation or environment (Life+, Horizon Europe, Erasmus+) are key to support the adaptation of our territories;
✔ Ensure the balance between of different activities, knowledge and finance to ensure acceptance.
In the afternoon of the World Impact Summit, during the session “Accelerate and intensify circularity in water consumption” where also Naomi Timmer (EJWP) was also moderating, the key messages were:
✔ Clarification of the terminology in water circularity is key to better understand the options between reuse, cascading, efficiency. Saving water saves energy;
✔ Foster mandatory awareness of industrial stakeholders to realize the value of water;
✔ Adapt the water circularity to the local level to maximize the benefits;
✔ Better management of inland water will have strong benefits for our costal activities and oceans.
Thanks to the other Water Europe’s Ambassadors Dimitris Kofinas (University of Thessaly), Kamal Azrague (SINTEF) and Clémence Pierre (France Water Team) for their contribution to some of the key water-related challenges, from nature-based solutions to French cleantech expertise.
As over 5.00o participants from a variety of backgrounds joined the event to deliver a positive impact, Water Europe also made its voice heard and clear on how we can contribute to build a Water-Smart Society.
