水フレンズグループ（日本共催）における木村大使ステートメント
令和3年10月15日
Thank you very much for convening the Group of Friends on Water. Let me begin by expressing my gratitude to all the speakers for their inspiring inputs.
Many challenges confronting us, such as climate change, COVID-19, and water-related issues, require our collective efforts. Water-related disasters are also becoming more serious in many parts of the world. Every country and region is connected through a dynamic water cycle. What happens in one part of the world affects other regions, environments, and economies.
Today, I would like to introduce the "4th Asia-Pacific Water Summit" to be held in Kumamoto, Japan, from the 23rd to the 24th of April, 2022. The Summit is a forum for leaders from the Asia-Pacific region to gather in order to deepen their awareness of water-related issues and to encourage resource mobilization and concrete action.
The theme of next year’s Summit is "Water for Sustainable Development - Best Practices and the Next Generation". The discussion will focus on concrete actions to achieve the water-related SDGs. It is expected that the leaders of the Asia-Pacific region will make commitments to realizing "Quality Growth" toward a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable society.
At the last Summit meeting in 2017, the Yangon Declaration was issued to enhance water security by protecting and managing water resources more effectively, as well as to take a leading role in the implementation of the International Decade of Action. The Declaration envisions a pathway to upscale water security in the region, and expresses determination in the areas of sound water cycle management, governance, inclusive development, financing the implementation of water-related SDGs, and water cooperation at all levels.
We hope that the next Summit in Japan will build upon the previous discussions and contribute to the mid-term review of the Water Action Decade by reflecting the wisdom of our region. The Summit will also share the longstanding efforts of the host city, Kumamoto, in conserving groundwater, as well as its efforts to recover from the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. We look forward to discussing the way forward for the next generation.
I thank you very much.
Many challenges confronting us, such as climate change, COVID-19, and water-related issues, require our collective efforts. Water-related disasters are also becoming more serious in many parts of the world. Every country and region is connected through a dynamic water cycle. What happens in one part of the world affects other regions, environments, and economies.
Today, I would like to introduce the "4th Asia-Pacific Water Summit" to be held in Kumamoto, Japan, from the 23rd to the 24th of April, 2022. The Summit is a forum for leaders from the Asia-Pacific region to gather in order to deepen their awareness of water-related issues and to encourage resource mobilization and concrete action.
The theme of next year’s Summit is "Water for Sustainable Development - Best Practices and the Next Generation". The discussion will focus on concrete actions to achieve the water-related SDGs. It is expected that the leaders of the Asia-Pacific region will make commitments to realizing "Quality Growth" toward a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable society.
At the last Summit meeting in 2017, the Yangon Declaration was issued to enhance water security by protecting and managing water resources more effectively, as well as to take a leading role in the implementation of the International Decade of Action. The Declaration envisions a pathway to upscale water security in the region, and expresses determination in the areas of sound water cycle management, governance, inclusive development, financing the implementation of water-related SDGs, and water cooperation at all levels.
We hope that the next Summit in Japan will build upon the previous discussions and contribute to the mid-term review of the Water Action Decade by reflecting the wisdom of our region. The Summit will also share the longstanding efforts of the host city, Kumamoto, in conserving groundwater, as well as its efforts to recover from the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. We look forward to discussing the way forward for the next generation.
I thank you very much.