Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

World Water Day is not just a day, it is every day. In Germany, clean tap water is something we take for granted. In other parts of the world, water is often hard to access, polluted, or a source of conflict.

Water is, of course, vital for survival, for people and nature and for all life on Earth. Over the past few years, the international community has been working hard to better protect water and to secure access to clean water. In Germany, we have drawn up a dedicated National Water strategy to prepare for the future, securing our water supply for years to come. When it comes to water, the impact of the climate crisis is being felt acutely, with heat waves and droughts on the rise, glaciers disappearing, and flooding and heavy rainfall becoming ever more severe and more frequent.

Our National Water strategy is designed to respond to these challenges. But to implement it successfully, we need robust cooperation, and this goes far beyond government entities. We need all stakeholders working on water on board — the business and scientific communities, experts and NGOs. This is my message to you today.

We need this type of cooperation all over the world. This is why today's international event, celebrating World Water Day, is so important. Since the UN Water Conference in 2023, we have made some real progress together. I am pleased at the appointment of the first UN Special Envoy on water. This is something we felt very strongly about.

I would also like to thank UN Water and all those involved for the swift development of the UN system-wide strategy for water and sanitation. We must now continue to work together on achieving tangible progress. We should make use of the process leading up to the next UN Water Conference in 2026 to this end. Water is a key element for health and quality of life and for achieving the goals for the 2030 Agenda and the Rio conventions.

We should make use of this vast potential. So let us foster regular dialogue and collaboration on water. And let us strengthen the UN structures we have at our disposal. Germany will continue to be a reliable partner that is actively committed to these efforts — committed to protecting what we value: water.