UNESCO promotes a global event on water in megacities

This week, UNESCO promotes the Water, Megacities and Global Change - Second International Conference. The online event is free and intends to bring together more than 2,000 participants to search for solutions for global access to water, which is becoming a concern, especially in urban areas.

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UNESCO believes that the diversity of knowledge and technical and financial resources existing in megacities is an opportunity to create innovative solutions and guarantee access to water and sanitation for all populations. According to the Secretary of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme, Abou Amani, the meeting will bring together actors from the industrial sector to build solutions to the water-related challenges that megacities face, especially with climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abou Amani reinforces that the work carried out at this conference echoes the top priority of UNESCO’s Division of Water Sciences: using science to achieve a world with safe water for all.

UNESCO estimates that by 2030, more than 1 billion people will live in approximately 100 large cities, and 60% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. Currently, the proportion of the urban population in some regions already exceeds 70%. The projection is that population growth in the coming decades will be greater in these places, particularly in regions with more than 10 million inhabitants.

Megacities are located on every continent except Oceania. They cover diverse geographic areas with a wide range of climates and are usually near rivers, lakes or seas.