Davos, Switzerland, 21 January, 2016 – True to tradition, the 2030 WRG Governing Council meeting was held during the Forum’s Annual Meetings in the picturesque town of Davos, Switzerland. The council members reviewed the achievements and progress of the 2030 WRG to-date and discussed the outlook for the year ahead. The discussions were led by Chair Peter Brabeck-Letmathe.

He pointed out that 2015 was a very interesting year for development issues in general and water in particular, and he highlighted the recently adopted SDGs, the climate change agreement, as well as the Forum’s annual Global Risk Report.

Anders Berntell, 2030 WRG Executive Director, presented the progress, achievements and results during 2015 and asked the Governing Council members to reflect and give feedback on the presentation.

The Council members were very satisfied with the way that 2030 WRG has been able to build and institutionalize effective and committed partnerships in the countries where it is active. It was reported in the meeting that 2030WRG now has 297 active partners as participants in Steering Boards and working groups in the 9 countries/states where such multi-stakeholder platforms so far have been established. This is on average over 30 partners in each partnership, which is a very positive development.

The members said that in the context of adaptation to climate change, the 2030 WRG program becomes even more relevant. In both the agreement on the SDGs and in the Paris agreement on Climate Change, there has been a strong emphasis on the need to develop partnerships between public, private and civil society to facilitate the implementation of the respective agreements. 2030WRG is an excellent already existing example of such a partnership, working at global as well as national levels, which could also inspire others.

The Governing Council members were all pleased with the results so far, and in particular with the number of programs in different countries that are now starting to get implemented on the ground, with substantial impact in terms of less water abstracted from rivers and aquifers, reduced waste-water being emitted and increased productivity per drop of water in agriculture, Other programs that will also be implemented shortly are covering economic incentives, including water tariffs for industrial use of water. They expressed their own organization’s continued commitment and support, and wanted to see the program continue. It was said that water will always be a priority, and they also recognized that continuing 2030 WRG is important for the continuity of the programs and partnerships in the countries where we work, thereby realizing that building partnerships is something that is a long-term investment.

The Governing Council members agreed in principle to continue the program beyond the current June 2017 funding phase and welcomed the idea to explore engagement opportunities in more countries. The Council approved the budget and requested the Secretariat to prepare for the upcoming mid-year Governing Council meeting, as part of the preparation for the development of a new Strategic Plan for the work of 2030WRG beyond 2017.