By : Astika Ayu)*
Water is an invaluable source of life for our planet. As a substance that supports the sustainability of all forms of life, water plays a central role in the earth’s ecosystem. However, challenges to the availability of clean and sustainable water are increasingly pressing, driving the need for a strong political consensus to safeguard the world’s water resources.
The water crisis has become one of the biggest challenges facing the world today. In recent decades, we have witnessed an increase in disproportionate water consumption, water pollution, climate change, and damage to water ecosystems that affect the sustainability of our water resources.
The 10th World Water Forum (WWF) or World Water Forum which is being held in Bali is a strong collaborative effort to overcome the challenges of climate change and strengthen political consensus at the local, national and international levels amidst uncertain climate conditions throughout the world.
The Indonesian government through the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) is optimistic that the 10th WWF event , which will take place in Bali on 18-25 May 2024, will be able to create a political consensus among the heads of participating countries to concretely overcome the challenges of the climate crisis together.
Head of BMKG, Dwikorita Karnawati said that based on the results of many analyzes by world climate institutions, current climate and weather conditions continue to experience uncertainty, one of which is due to the uncontrolled release of the greenhouse gas CO2 in the atmosphere.
This condition of uncertainty results in the emergence of extreme weather; both drought and rain above the normal average, the impact of which not only opens up opportunities for social and public health degradation but also affects the financial or economic conditions of a country.
One of the important substances for WWF in Bali will be because most countries in the world have felt the impact of the challenge of climate change, which means that water availability must be maintained for the common good.
He stated that the forum had created a political consensus from heads of state or authority institutions representing the 30 or so participating countries which was binding or had to be implemented in order to overcome the potential climate crisis.
Dwikorita believes that this binding consensus is the most important point that will be produced by the 10th WWF, because it means that the heads of participating countries agree to execute all action plans that have been prepared scientifically based on ecosystems and natural events by their respective countries.
The real action plan concerns climate change mitigation and eliminating the gap between the challenges and capacities of each country in terms of managing water resources, climate, food, energy and health.
In line with this, the General Chair of the Indonesian Drinking Water Companies Association (PERPAMSI), Lalu Ahmad Zaini, S.Sc., MT, who was also present on this occasion, conveyed efforts and recommendations for strategies to increase the sustainability of drinking water availability. He said that drinking water is a basic matter, our common concern, but it is very unfortunate because it is not very attractive to the state and politicians so that drinking water and sanitation services are increasingly low, even in Southeast Asia being the lowest.
Some of the recommendations conveyed by the General Chairman of PERPAMSI are the formation of a regulatory body for drinking water and sanitation services, the establishment of a policy for allocating a minimum of 2% of the APBN and APBD for the drinking water sector, the formation of a special law on drinking water and sanitation, the restructuring of PAM institutions using a watershed approach, increasing the role of the private sector in funding for drinking water and sanitation, as well as deregulation of the drinking water and sanitation sector which is currently regulated in PP No. 5 of 2012, PP no. 54 of 2017, and Law no. 17 of 2019.
Water is an invaluable asset for our lives and the future of the planet. To ensure the availability of clean and sustainable water for all, strong political consensus is needed at all levels. With collaboration, public participation and concrete action, we can overcome global water challenges and realize a vision of sustainability for future generations.
For information, the 10th World Water Forum has the theme “Water for Shared Prosperity” which is translated into six sub-themes discussed, including water for human and nature, water security and prosperity, disaster risk reduction and management, governance cooperation and hydro diplomacy , sustainable water finance, and knowledge and innovation .
In this forum, Indonesia will open a space for discussion between stakeholders from a number of regions, namely the Mediterranean, Asia Pacific, America and Africa together with member countries of the World Water Council to look for various mechanisms and approaches to resolve issues related to water.
A discussion space between stakeholders ranging from heads of state, members of parliament, ministerial level officials, regional governments, to river basin authorities will specifically discuss water issues that are closely related to politics, regional/regional and thematic.
)* The author is a public policy observer
