UAE aims to push water scarcity up the global agenda

Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative's first council meeting explored ways to develop sustainable global access to water using breakthrough technologies

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, chaired the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative's first council meeting. UAE Presidential Court

The UAE pledged to raise water scarcity up the global agenda at the first council meeting of the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative.

Chaired by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, the council also looked at ways to develop sustainable global access to water using breakthrough technologies and discussed priority projects.

It reviewed the initiative's strategic framework based on “accelerating innovation, raising awareness through global outreach, and empowering action”, state news agency Wam reported.

Plans to encourage young people around the world to play their part in addressing the global challenge were also discussed.

President Sheikh Mohamed launched the initiative to tackle global water shortages in February, with an investment of $150 million.

At Friday's council meeting, Sheikh Abdullah, who is also the water initiative's chairman, reviewed the progress of the five-year global XPrize Water Scarcity competition, which is offering $119 million in prizes.

The competition is designed to provide widespread access to clean water by creating sustainable and affordable seawater desalination systems.

Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei and Minister of Climate Change and Environment Dr Amna Al Shamsi were among key ministers, along with senior officials, who attended the meeting.

“The solutions that currently exist to address the water scarcity crisis are not sufficient to prevent a range of unacceptable scenarios from occurring,” Sheikh Abdullah had said at the launch of the initiative.

The UAE will stand firm in its mission to provide clean drinking water to those who need it, President Sheikh Mohamed had declared.

In a post on social media platform X, on World Water Day in March, he wrote: “The UAE will continue working in partnership with the international community to find sustainable solutions to provide freshwater to those most in need in support of a more prosperous tomorrow.”

Last December, the UAE called for a decisive and co-ordinated international response to the urgent threat of global water scarcity in a comprehensive discussion paper.

The paper was published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

It aimed to serve as a global call to action to work together in new ways to address the challenge.