President of the United Nations General Assembly Csaba Korosi and experts at the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR) discussed solutions to the global water crisis during Korosi's four-day trip to China.

Korosi said in a meeting with President of IWHR Kuang Shangfu, the world urgently needs revolutionary solutions to help address challenges in the sustainable utilization of water resources, adding that in the next 20 years, about 400 million people around the world will be forced to leave their homelands due to floods and droughts.

Korosi reiterated that the United Nations is committed to applying scientific and systematic methods in resolving the global water crisis and spoke highly of Chinese water scientists' contribution to the realization of the UN's water-related goals.

China will participate in the 2023 Conference for the Midterm Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the UN Decade for Action on Water and Sanitation (2018-2028) , which will take place at the UN Headquarters in New York from March 22 to 24 and will be co-hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands.

Kuang Shangfu said the IWHR will proactively participate in the upcoming conference as it strives to make more contributions to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He also noted that active communications with different UN bodies shows that the IWHR looks forward to seeing more intensified cooperation as it joins with countries and regions to cope with the increasingly grim challenges the world faces in water resource management.

Meanwhile, the vice president of the institute, Peng Jing, outlined a series of achievements China has made in water resource management as it endeavors to cope with an increasing number of floods and droughts. China's large water conservancy projects, such as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project and the Three Gorges Project, have promoted carbon emission reduction, strengthened ecological protection and also boosted regional economic growth.

Korosi expressed his admiration for China's work in water resource governance. He added he looks forward to seeing China play a guiding role in the UN Water Conference and make proactive contributions to the construction of a global system for water resource information. The UNGA president also expects China to play a key role in promoting the sustainable utilization of water resources around the globe.

The IWHR is a national research institution under the Ministry of Water Resources of China and is engaged in almost all the projects related to water resources and hydropower research. With several research departments and affiliated enterprises, the IWHR conducts evaluations in hydrology and water resources, water environment and ecology, flood control, drought relief and disaster reduction, as well as soil and water conservation and river and lake management.

(Cover image via CFP)

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