Expo 2030 Rome hosts exhibition at the Hotel Pierre during the 2023 UN Water Conference

PC: Society & Diplomatic Review

The city of Rome and the Expo were protagonists in New York on the sidelines of the UN World Water Conference with an appointment entitled “Water, People, and Territories: 2030 and Beyond. Expo in Rome as an ideal platform”.

The event, co-organized by the Permanent Representation of Italy to the UN and the Expo 2030 Rome Promoting Committee, was attended by the Minister of the Environment Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, who opened the event after a welcome by Ambassador Maurizio Massari, Permanent Representative of Italy to the UN, in front of an audience of more than 200 international guests including a dozen Ministers of the Environment and Agriculture from different countries, Ambassadors, UN delegates and representatives.

The presentation of the Rome Expo 2030 project was shown by Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi, Director of the Rome Expo Campaign. The leitmotif of the evening, which included an exhibition of the photographic panels of the Expo 2030 Roma Masterplan, was Italy’s commitment to achieving a Universal Exposition that catalyzes concrete projects on water resources, renewable energy, and zero emissions, starting new international cooperation to accelerate the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This event was the first organized by the Expo Promoting Committee.

At another side event during the UN Water Conference, the Minister remarked:

"Italy has always been committed to working towards achieving the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially to providing financial support to the UNESCO-Perugia Programme, which coordinates the publication of the annual UN World Water Development Report.

The UN World Water Development Report, which was mentioned this morning also by the UN SG Guterres in his opening remarks, is the flagship report on water of the whole UN system and has become a benchmark since its first edition in 2003.

This authoritative report provides Member States with specialized guidance in understanding the critical role of science-based knowledge to shape sustainable, water policies.

Water is a cross-cutting issue that touches every aspect of sustainable development – social, economic and environmental, and that requires partnerships and new models of partnership and cooperation at the local, national, basin area and global levels.

The 2023 WWD Report shows us the pathway to follow by providing examples and in-depth analysis of the current water situation. I recommend you look through it and take advantage of its wealth of content. While I leave the technical details to the experts, this report also strikes me for its vision.

I am sure this vision will be inspiring for all the Water Conference participants. As I am sure that the concrete examples of partnerships and cooperation at the local, regional and national levels from Italy and other Countries that we will share in the second half of this side event, will contribute to strengthening our efforts to address the global challenges on water within the Water Action Agenda.

I thank all our guests and speakers for joining us today and wish you all a productive session."

For more information on the Expo 2030 in Rome, go here.