Expo 2020 Dubai has called for urgent action to ensure the preservation of clean, safe water for all, saying the world needs to work together to ensure this finite life-sustaining resource.

Expo Talks: Water, a virtual event held by Expo 2020 Dubai, took place on Tuesday in association with the office of the UAE minister of state for food and water security, bringing together experts from across the globe, including Monaco’s Prince Albert II, to seek collaborative solutions to better preserve and sustainably manage water globally.

Reem Al-Hashimy, the UAE minister of state for international cooperation, Director General of Expo 2020 Dubai and Chair of the National Committee on the Sustainable Development Goals, said that there is an urgency to the looming global water crisis, and this is not only an economic challenge, but a question of justice, fairness and equity.

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, the UAE minister of state for food and water security, noted that the ability of communities around the world to access fresh water is increasingly under threat, adding that climate change is driving a shift in weather patterns that is resulting in increased droughts, more extreme weather events and rising desertification.

“The UAE knows only too well the pressures from having a lack of fresh water. However, we have been able to show the world what is possible with the application of innovation and technology,” she added.

Expo Talks: Water spanned topics from sanitation to food security and conservation to clean oceans, featuring experts from around the world, including pioneering oceanographer Sylvia Earle, former Chief Scientist of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, who addressed the need to protect the world’s oceans.

“Healthy people need healthy water, and so do all other living things. We must protect the waters of the world as if our lives depend on it, because they do,” said Earle.

The event also spotlighted projects already supported by Expo 2020 through its global innovation and partnership programme, Expo Live, and via the Global Best Practice Programme (GBPP).

These include the Nimr Water Treatment Plant, a sustainable constructed wetland that treats oil-contaminated water ecologically and has transformed arid desert into a resilient eco-system.

As a professional services and technical solutions provider, Jacobs – part of the Jacobs Mace joint venture serving as Expo 2020’s Official Programme Delivery Management Provider – shares pioneering work with the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium.

Jacobs provided design and engineering services to deliver the Seawater Energy and Agriculture System (SEAS) in the UAE – the world’s first bioenergy facility to produce aviation fuel and food using saltwater and maximising the desert ecosystem.

International Participants – including Hungary, Panama, Peru and Portugal – shared their strategies for ensuring their communities have access to safe and affordable water and sanitation.

Attendees were also given a glimpse of ‘Hammour House’, Expo 2020’s unique community art project that uses marine debris and is designed to raise awareness of ocean pollution and promote marine conservation.

Expo Talks: Water was the tenth and final in a series of thematic talks – launched in October 2020 with Space – that have brought together influential policy-makers, thought-leaders, expo participants and the public to help shape the thought-provoking content and conversations taking place during Expo 2020.

Running from 1 October 2021 until 31 March 2022, Expo 2020 Dubai will seek collaborative solutions to the world’s most pressing problems – including weeks dedicated to climate and biodiversity, knowledge and learning, and water – to help build a cleaner, safer and healthier future for all.