Thousands of participants, 140 ministerial delegations, more than 80 ministers, and members of hundreds of organizations are gathered this week in Marseille, France for the Sixth World Water Forum. The week-long forum aims to bring water crises facing communities, governments, and regions across the world to the forefront of political agendas.

More than 780 million people worldwide lack safe drinking water, according to a 2012 UNICEF/WHO report. Approximately 2.5 billion people in 2010 lacked improved sanitation, and 15 percent (1.1 billion) of the world’s population practice open defecation. The recently released UN World Water Development Report (WWDR4) cites that 3.5 million deaths per year are linked to insufficient sanitation, hygiene, and water supply.

“For the past fifteen years, the World Water Forums have advanced the understanding of issues related to this important topic … Things have moved too slowly, and we must now move up a gear to achieve our common goal,” said France’s Prime Minister Francois Fillon in his speech on Monday at the forum.

Meeting every three years since 1997, the forum provides a platform for debate through grassroots citizen involvement and the participation of experts and decision makers.  It also acts as a foundation for authorities to make commitments toward lasting solutions to global water challenges.

On Tuesday, forum participants announced that 2013 is going to be the “International Year of Water Cooperation.” Led by UNESCO, along with four other UN agencies, 2013 will focus on the successes achieved thus far in water cooperation, along with the span of water challenges still facing communities worldwide.

As a component of the Rural Water Supply Initiative in Africa, Chad, France, Italy, Ivory Coast, Niger, Republic of Congo, and Switzerland pledged $80 million. The Fourth African Water Week is scheduled in Cairo, Egypt for May 14-18, 2012.

During Wednesday’s Arab trialogue session, “Water and Energy,” Dr. Abid Thyab Al Ajeeli from the Arab Parliament predicted, “Currently 18 of the 22 Arab States suffer from water scarcity and by 2050 this will turn into water distress.” Holding only one percent of the planet’s fresh water, the Arab world contains five percent of the world’s population.

The panel discussion focused on desalination, already widespread in the Gulf States, and renewable energies as alternatives to the current fossil fuel reserves powering desalination plants. Zaher bin Khalid Al-Sulaimani, Director General of Projects for the Public Authority for Electricity and Water-Oman, stated that Oman relies on the sea for 80 percent of its population’s drinking water. During the next four years, Oman plans to invest in 200 MW of renewable energy projects.

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The Eye on Earth Summit, held in Abu Dhabi from December 12-15, brings together the world’s foremost thinkers about environmental information to reflect on how we can ensure that decision-makers everywhere make wiser decisions. Dozens of speakers with the caliber of President Bill Clinton, Jane Goodall, UAE President H.E. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the Conservation International boss, Russell Mittermeier, are helping delegates formulate concrete recommendations for the next Earth Summit to be held in Rio in June 2012.

Access to environmental knowledge is critical: wise decision-making depends on it. As the COP-17 climate conference in Durban, South Africa, recently showed, it is becoming urgent to address the world’s ability to prepare for coming changes to our planet. Environmental information is becoming increasingly precious.

However, much of this information is unavailable, even when it already exists. It may be absent, inaccessible, or simply hidden. Much of it is held in incompatible standards, ‘protected’ by bureaucratic complexity, restrained by lack of open access, or kept in the dark through ignorance of its existence.

Emerging economies in particular are at risk of losing valuable assets because of decisions taken without full knowledge. Yet making more environmental information available to them and others need not be expensive or especially complicated. What is needed, above all, is collaboration, information, and understanding of the problems caused by unavailable data.

Water scarcity, food security, and climate change are policy issues that require solutions that extend beyond political boundaries.

This VNR contains short, impactful statements by the following distinguished speakers:

- H.E. Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary General, Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi

- Jack Dangermond, CEO & President, Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri)

- John E. Scanlon, Secretary General, Conservational on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

- President Bill Clinton

- Sha Zukang, UN Undersecretary General and Secretary General of the Rio +20 Summit

- Dr. Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

- Hernando de Soto, President, Institute for Liberty & Democracy

- Dr. Jane Goodall, Founder, Jane Goodall Institute

- Chief Almir Surui, Amazon Indigenous Leader

- Prof. Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director, European Environmental Agency

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