By Julia Marton-Lefèvre, IUCN Director General
I’m writing this from the train on my way home from Marseille where I accompanied IUCN’s global water team for the first two days of the 6th World Water Forum.
The Forum’s theme ‘Time for Solutions’ provided an excellent setting for IUCN’s key messages that nature is a solution for the water challenges faced by the world and that ‘natural infrastructure’ must be a key part of water management portfolios in all countries. We received a huge amount of positive feedback and these messages are finally becoming integrated into water discussions
I was one of the keynote speakers at an opening plenary, as well as a panelist in discussions on the contribution of the Forum to the Rio+20 conference. I also chaired the first of a series of technical sessions organized by IUCN, the Nature Conservancy and the Korea Water Resources Corporation on ‘The Green Growth Challenge: No Nature, No water, No Growth!’ Participating in a high level ministerial roundtable on the Water, Energy and Food Security relationship, I made the point that nature is the critical but missing fourth dimension of this equation.
I head back to Switzerland knowing that IUCN remains strongly represented at the Forum by an effective and respected water team from our headquarters and regional offices.