Welcome to the United Nations
Intro
This year’s HLPF convened under the theme of “Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality,” undertakes the first global review of SDG13 on climate action, along with SDGs 4, 8, 10, 16 and 17. This will provide an opportunity to take stock of progress to-date including on energy, water and climate interlinkages, and reflect on the way forward to accelerate implementation of the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. This event aims to facilitate open exchange of insights and experiences for furthering progress toward addressing SDG6 and SDG7 interlinkages in support of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement.
Summary
Water and energy are intricately connected and essential to sustainable development. Recognizing these critical interlinkages, UNDESA and Itaipu Binacional, in collaboration with multi-stakeholder partners, are leading a global network to promote integrated sustainable approaches to water and energy in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. Currently, close to 1 billion people are still having no access to electricity, and 2.8 billion are living in areas of high water stress. Climate change will only exacerbate these issues. Underscoring that “6+7=13”, panelists highlighted the importance of SDG6 and SDG7 for climate action (SDG13), and called for strengthened global efforts in identifying policies, technologies and practices capable of addressing these issues in an integrated manner. The panelists included representatives from Spain, the Netherlands, USDOE, ITAIPU Binational, the International Hydropower Association, the Climate Change Research Institute of Guatemala and UNICEF.
