Dr. Arvind Kumar*
At Stockholm, the message was clear: water must move to the heart of climate governance not as a side issue but as the bloodstream of sustainable development. Unlike earlier years of polite echo chambers, 2025 felt edgier and more political. UN leaders spoke with unusual bluntness, civil society pressed with urgency, and financing gaps were laid bare.
Climate change today is not merely a looming threat, it is already a water crisis unfolding in real time. The IPCC warns that nearly half of humanity faces severe water scarcity each year, while the planet swings violently between parching droughts and punishing floods. Since 1970, almost half of the world’s major disasters have been flood-related, each leaving behind washed-out homes, lost harvests, and broken livelihoods. Water, that ancient lifeline, now sits at the crossroads of food, energy, and health, with the World Bank reminding us it is the “key pathway” through which climate change delivers its heaviest blows. For the poorest, especially women and children in South Asia, these blows land hardest—empty wells, barren fields, and rivers that once sustained life now run dry or run wild.
It was against this turbulent tide that World Water Week 2025 gathered in Stockholm under the banner “Water for Climate Action.” Hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), the conclave became a kind of global confluence, where 500 sessions cascaded like tributaries into the central truth: the climate crisis is, at its core, a water crisis. SIWI’s Executive Director, Helena Thybell, captured the urgency: “We see it in drying rivers and flooded cities, in failed harvests and forced migration. But in water, we also find the solutions.” From AI-powered farming tools unveiled by the World Bank to dialogues on trans-boundary rivers, island-state survival, and even a symbolic “Sunrise Swim,” the week flowed with ideas reminding the world that every story of disaster and resilience begins and ends with water.
Voices and Commitments
Prominent international figures seized the platform to deliver stark messages. UN agencies highlighted glaring gaps: UNICEF and WHO jointly launched a new report on household water and sanitation at World Water Week, revealing that still 1 in 4 people (2.1 billion worldwide) lack safely managed drinking water (and 3.4 billion lack safely managed sanitation). WHO’s Dr. Ruediger Krech bluntly warned: “Water, sanitation and hygiene are not privileges, they are basic human rights,” and urged acceleration of action for the most marginalized. Likewise, WaterAid’s global advocacy director Sol Oyuela speaking just as WWW opened lamented that it is “utterly shameful” the world is off-track on the 2030 water goals. She noted that without stronger political will and investment, “water is the difference between life and death for millions… Without it, all progress crumbles”. In parallel, the United Nations itself reiterated that water must be central to climate policy.
SIWI and other organizations also highlighted cooperation as part of the way forward. For instance, a UN Press Office report cited UNESCO’s message that transboundary water cooperation is one of the few silver linings against conflict: formal agreements on shared rivers and aquifers can “prevent the emergence or exacerbation of wider-ranging conflicts”. Several panelists and ministers echoed this diplomatic angle. In one high-level panel on peace and water, speakers stressed how water scarcity can drive instability, but also how cross-border water management builds trust.
Yet many attendees noted that even this heavyweight forum had blind spots. A common critique was that sanitation and hygiene still played second fiddle. Global NGOs pointed out that saving water time must go hand-in-hand with stopping open defecation and ensuring sewage treatment; WaterAid warned that without closing sanitation gaps, health and productivity gains will stall. Gender advocates similarly emphasized that “women and girls often bear the brunt of inadequate water and sanitation”– a theme echoing through Side Events at Stockholm. Moreover, critics highlighted that climate discussions sometimes skirted concrete financing strategies. Sessions like “Tap, Invest, Transform” sought new funding ideas, but many delegates warned that trillions of dollars of water infrastructure are still unfunded. In short, one WaterAid delegate warned, “talk alone won’t save lives… What’s urgently needed is bold political will, backed by serious investment”.
India’s presence at World Water Week 2025 was not just symbolic, it was substantive and strategic, like a river carving its course through global water governance. Shri Rajeev Kumar Mital, Director General of NMCG, advanced the Indo–Dutch Water Partnership, steering talks on the Centre of Excellence, Delhi’s Urban River Management Plan, and weaving Dutch cities into the Global River Cities Alliance. Meanwhile, Smt. Archna Verma (MoJS), joined by senior NMCG officials, engaged UN Sherpa Dr. Mohamed C.B.C. Diatta to deepen India–Africa cooperation and even floated India’s potential co-chairmanship of the 2026 UN Water Conference.
Adding another current, NMCG’s deliberations with IUCN’s Dr. James Dalton drew praise for Namami Gange, celebrated for uniting rivers and wetlands under one integrated framework. From bilateral rooms to high-level panels, India carried forward Prime Minister Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 highlighting cooperative federalism as the backbone of river rejuvenation, while at the ADB panel, showcased how India’s transformative policies are reshaping water security.
Towards Sustainable Future
At Stockholm, the message was clear: water must move to the heart of climate governance not as a side issue but as the bloodstream of sustainable development. Unlike earlier years of polite echo chambers, 2025 felt edgier and more political. UN leaders spoke with unusual bluntness, civil society pressed with urgency, and financing gaps were laid bare. The way forward now lies in resilient infrastructure, nature-based solutions like wetland restoration, and stronger transboundary cooperation turning rivers into bridges of peace, not lines of conflict. Above all, it means empowering communities and women-led networks to act as custodians of water, making solutions both inclusive and innovative.
If World Water Week 2025 had a bottom line, it was that water is both a marker of failure and a source of hope in the climate era. Without urgent, ambitious action, the coming years will see droughts deepen and floods worsen. But as event speakers reminded the audience, every climate goal from net-zero energy to food security – flows through water management. As Water Aid’s Sol Oyuela urged: let this year’s warnings spur “bold political will”, not just more words. In short, Stockholm’s water experts and policymakers left with an editorial consensus: to secure a livable planet, we must finally ensure that water is treated as a primary climate solution, not an afterthought.
*Editor, Focus Global Reporter
