Islamabad, Dec 3 (IANS) Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will pay an official visit to Saudi Arabia on December 3-4 to attend the One Water Summit, the Foreign Ministry said.
The summit, a joint initiative of Saudi Arabia, France, Kazakhstan, and the World Bank, aims to promote global cooperation and a coherent international approach towards water resource management through high-level political commitments, a Foreign Ministry statement said on Monday.
At the summit, the Prime Minister will deliver a keynote address at a roundtable focusing on restoration, preservation, and adaptation in the context of freshwater resources and wetlands, the statement said.
It added that he will also highlight steps being taken by Pakistan to promote water conservation, strengthen climate resilience, improve water quality, create livelihoods, and conserve biodiversity, Xinhua news agency reported.
Pakistan will also underline the importance of international cooperation to tackle the impact of climate-induced floods, erratic and extreme weather patterns, and heat stress on water resources and ecosystems, calling for meaningful international collaboration for sustainable water resource management.
Sharif is also expected to hold bilateral meetings and engagements on the forum’s sidelines.
The summit is being held on the sidelines of the next high-level session of the 16th session of COP16 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). It aims to contribute to ongoing United Nations discussions and processes to enhance global water governance, accelerate action on SDG6 on water and sanitation, and build on the momentum of the UN Water Conference in 2023.
The forum will also act as an incubator for solutions in preparation for the next UN Water Conference in 2026, and integrate its agenda into the other existing water processes and initiatives such as the World Water Forum, the Dushanbe Conference, and the World Water Week.
“The One Water Summit’s ambition is to scale-up projects by stimulating partnerships between states, international organisations, local authorities, development and private banks, businesses, philanthropies, scientific experts, NGOs, and civil society, in line with previous One Planet Summits,” the forum’s website said.
–IANS
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