The Japan Water Forum has held the Water Conference for Future, 2023, Cross-Generational Efforts for the Future of Water on Saturday, February 4, 2023. The Water Conference for Future is a symposium first launched by the Japan Water Forum in 2016 in response to new water-related trends in Japan and abroad, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement, and Japan’s Water Cycle Policy. Discussions were held on the importance of the private sector’s role in achieving the SDGs, and on necessary measures for cooperation and collaboration. These discussions continued until 2020. You can find the conference archive by clicking here.

The Water Conference for Future has resumed this year as a new series, with the theme of intergenerational collaboration. As a result of the first conference, we have compiled the Message from the Water Conference for Future 2023 (PDF). We plan to share this message at various opportunities, including the UN 2023 Water Conference, which will be held at UN Headquarters in New York for three days starting on March 22, 2023 (UN World Water Day).

In September 2019, the United Nations announced the Decade of Action, as we approach the 10-year milestone before 2030, the deadline for achieving the SDGs. The Decade of Action re-emphasizes the importance of individual, national, and corporate initiatives. A major shift is needed if we are to realize a sustainable society. The importance of action by young people as a driving force for this change is being highlighted. In April 2022, the Japan Water Forum used the occasion of the 4th Asia-Pacific Water Summit in Kumamoto City to launch the Youth Water Forum, an initiative aimed at promoting meaningful youth engagement from the perspective of water. The Water Conference for Future is part of that program.

At the current pace, the SDGs related to water will not be achieved in time. The acceleration of transformative actions by the young is needed. Social change is necessary in order to achieve this. The Japan Water Forum will continue to engage in activities to build a sustainable society from the perspective of water through its Youth Water Forum activities.

(Reported by: Hiroko Fukuda, Manager, Hirohisa Suzuki, Project Coordinator, Koutoku Takeishi, Assistant Manager, Youth Water Forum Secretariat)