The United Nations Environment Assembly,
Recalling paragraphs 120 and 124 of the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled “The future we want”, in which Heads of State and Government called for the adoption of measures to significantly reduce water pollution and increase water quality and made a commitment to the progressive realization of access to safe and affordable drinking water and basic sanitation,
Recognizing that good water quality and adequate water quantity are keys to sustainable development and human well-being, as well as an indispensable prerequisite for protecting biodiversity and the integrity of the planet’s ecosystems,
Recalling Governing Council decisions 23/2, 24/16, 26/14 and 27/11, section VI, in which the Council set the stage for the Global Environment Monitoring System/Water Programme (GEMS/Water), defined its mandate and invited member States to participate in the efforts to provide global water data and information,
1. Expresses its gratitude to the Government of Canada for having hosted and supported GEMS/Water in the past, acknowledges the achievements made, and welcomes the commitments by the Governments of Germany, Ireland and Brazil to support GEMS/Water in the future;
2. Considers the United Nations Environment Programme and GEMS/Water well suited to supporting the achievement of water quality and water-pollution-related targets which may be part of the post-2015 development agenda that is still to be decided upon, through the provision of data and information for relevant assessments;
3. Emphasizes that the World Water Quality Assessment Report, the water-related sustainable development goals and other assessments on the state of freshwater resources at different geographic scales will require timely, relevant and reliable data and information from the revitalized GEMS/Water programme in order to inform policymaking at the relevant levels;
4. Underlines the need to further improve the global coverage and consistency of water quality data as well as to expand the GEMS/Water network, and invites member States, relevant United Nations agencies, the international scientific community and other interested partners and stakeholders to cooperate with the GEMS/Water Global Coordination Unit, the GEMS/Water Capacity Development Centre and GEMS/Water database (GEMStat) in building a reliable global freshwater monitoring and information system and to support relevant initiatives, including through financial and in-kind contributions to the GEMS/Water network, according to the country’s national circumstances and priorities;
5. Requests the Executive Director to collaborate closely with member States with the aim of identifying additional key elements of GEMS/Water, such as regional hubs, capacity development programmes, technology support and new services, as appropriate, and to ensure the necessary resources as reflected in the programme of work and budget for enabling the GEMS/Water Global Programme Coordination Unit in the United Nations Environment Programme to effectively and efficiently operate as the interface between national focal points, GEMStat, the GEMS/Water Capacity Development Centre, GEMS/Water regional hubs and relevant global partners;
6. Also requests the Executive Director to initiate discussions with member States, United Nations agencies and other relevant institutions and organizations that have done significant work developing water quality exchange standards on a common data policy, taking into account relevant national legislation that allows the exchange of water-quality-related data and metadata for the purpose of building a consistent database in GEMStat, supporting UNEP Live and informing sustainable development policies
;
7. Further requests the Executive Director to draft a revised GEMS/Water programme for adoption by the United Nations Environment Assembly at its second session, including a budget, while linking it clearly to the next biennial programme of work of the United Nations Environment Programme;
8. Invites GEMS/Water partners to support capacity development in providing standardization efforts for water-quality-related data collection, analysis, exchange and management, such as the Open Geospatial Consortium Best Practice WaterML-WQ (OGC 14-003) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency/United States Geological Survey Water Quality Exchange (USEPA/USGS WQX) standards for the presentation and exchange of water quality data and metadata, especially in developing countries, at their request, and to coordinate those efforts with relevant ongoing initiatives;
9. Encourages member States to approach GEMS/Water with the aim of supporting and customizing capacity development efforts, improving freshwater monitoring systems and exchanging technology that can support national, regional and global monitoring networks and assessments and to seek assistance for joining the GEMS/Water Network;
10. Reaffirms the mandate of GEMS/Water.