Resources GreenWire: Authorities gather in Barcelona ahead of 6th World Water Forum

Taking place in Marseille between March 12 – 17, the World Water Forum is one week of discussions, debates and seminars aimed at achieving concrete solutions and commitments for the cause of water.

Held at Marseille City Hall, this preparatory meeting brought together over 40 delegates from local and regional authorities from across the globe. After some intense debates, a new policy was agreed by the delegates, which will be put forward by the local and regional representatives at the 6th World Water Forum.

In 2009, local and regional authorities who attended the 5th World Water Forum produced the Istanbul Water Consensus, a new compact for local and regional authorities willing to commit to adapting their water infrastructure and services to the emerging challenges they are facing. It was also the first time that over 250 Parliamentarians from around the world jointly started to address water issues.

To date, more than a thousand cities and regions, from 49 countries in the world, have joined the Istanbul Water Consensus and have taken measures for better governance of water.

Loïc Fauchon, president of the World Water Council: "With the Istanbul Water Consensus, one of the fundamental goals of Local and Regional Authorities is to answer the growing challenges of water. We ask the States to put forward the topic of Water and its sanitation as a whole part of the sustainable development at the 6th World Water Forum and the Rio +20 Conference in June 2012".