Streams of Change: Water for Food and Biodiversity UNITAR Global Water Academy Side Event

26 May 2025, Geneva, Switzerland – In observance of the International Day for Biological Diversity, the UNITAR Global Water Academy, in collaboration with CIFAL Surrey and RECLAIM, hosted a virtual side event, ‘Streams of Change: Exploring the Intersection of Water, Agriculture, and Biodiversity’. The event brought together leading experts in climate resilience, hydrology, sanitation, and water governance to explore the intersections between urban infrastructure, sustainable agriculture, and biodiversity protection.

Framed around three core themes—clean water access, sustainable agriculture, and biodiversity management—the event emphasized the pivotal role of integrated water strategies in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 6 on clean water and sanitation, SDG 2 on zero hunger, and SDG 15 on life on land.

The panelists included:

• Dr Ebru Canan-Sokullu, Associate Director of CIFAL Global Network, UNITAR
• Prof Amelia Hatfield, Director, CIFAL Surrey, Co-Director of the Institute for Sustainability, University of Surrey
• Prof Prashant Kumar, Director, RECLAIM
• Dr Devendra Saroj, Institute for Sustainability Fellow
• Dr Jonathan Chenoweth, Institute for Sustainability Fellow
• Dr Katherine Pond, Institute for Sustainability Fellow
• Dr Daniel Green, RECLAIM Fellow, Heriot-Watt University
• Dr Belen Marti-Cardona, Institute for Sustainability Fellow
• Dr Louise Firth, RECLAIM Fellow, UCC, Ireland)
• Dr Thomas Kjeldsen, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Water Innovation and Research Centre, University of Bath

Dr. Canan-Sukullu opened the event by acknowledging 

International Day for Biological diversity is a powerful reminder that the health of our water resources is deeply intertwined with the well-being of ecosystems and the sustainability of our food systems.

Additionally, in Prof Hatfield’s opening remarks, she emphasized that 

agriculture itself accounts for 70% of global freshwater withdrawals, [...] but sustainable and unsustainable agricultural practices, I think where we are now, we see over-irrigation, we see excessive pesticide use, we see poor land management, and that has had a knock-off effect to water pollution, acquifier depletion, and a loss of biodiversity.