Road to COP29: Spotlight on UAE’s global water resilience efforts

A head of COP29 in Baku, the 79th UN General Assembly adopted a resolution confirming the United Arab Emirates and Senegal as co-hosts of the next UN Water Conference, to be held in the UAE in December 2026. The global convening will accelerate action on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6), seeking to drive progress on clean water, sanitation, sustainable water management, and building global resilience for all.

The 2026 UN Water Conference will be unique in that this event will be co-hosted by two nations from the Global South, shifting the global water dialogue and highlighting innovations and shared solutions in regions that are most water-stressed. UN research estimates that half of the world’s population live without basic sanitation while a quarter are without safe drinking water. Globally, 80 percent of the population faces serious threats to their water supply.

In both Senegal and the UAE, safeguarding water resources is central to ensuring economic growth, driving sustainable development, and safeguarding lives and livelihoods to build a more sustainable future. Recognising the importance of international collaboration in co-creating innovative solutions to encourage universal availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation, the 2026 UN Water Conference will convene the world in the UAE to reaffirm internationally agreed water-related goals and global targets, including those captured within the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

The UAE’s arid environment has historically shaped its relationship with water, fostering resilience, resourcefulness, and an acute understanding of the scarcity of this resource, with strong commitments to scaling innovations and global partnerships, as highlighted by Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainable Affairs.

“Water is our life force, and water resiliency is vital to achieving all Sustainable Development Goals. As we prepare to co-host the 2026 UN Water Conference in partnership with Senegal, we are drawing from the knowledge of our ancestors, robust research and innovation being applied across the UAE, and our global partnerships to co-create a more optimistic and sustainable water future– where clean water and sanitation are universally accessible.”

Through innovation, collaboration, and shared ambition, we will further scale new solutions for resilient water management, ensuring a sustainable future for both current and future generations.

Concerted investment in future-proofing water systems across the UAE includes more than 140 desalination plants, with initiatives such as the Taweelah Reverse Osmosis (RO) facility in Abu Dhabi, and the Hassyan seawater desalination project. Utilising low-carbon technologies and renewable energy sources, such as solar power, they strengthen the production of desalinated water and improve livelihoods for all. In addition, the UAE Water Security Strategy 2036 constitutes a transferable roadmap for achieving sustainable water access through the safe reuse of 95 percent of treated water and the supply of over 75 percent of drinking water through reverse osmosis technology.

The UAE's commitments to transforming water systems at scale to build global resilience for all include globally-reaching initiatives such as Clean Rivers, a non-profit based in Abu Dhabi launched in 2023, dedicated to reducing plastic waste from entering the world’s oceans through river systems. Through partnerships, Clean Rivers is supporting projects like a new UN Development Programme that will remove 5,000 tonnes of plastic from six riverine areas across Indonesia over the next three years.

Another significant effort to scale innovation for water-stressed communities is the Mohamed Bin Zayed Water Initiative (MBZWI), launched in 2024, which is committed to raising the importance of water scarcity on the global agenda. As its first major initiative, MBZWI partnered with XPRIZE, with an investment of US$150 million, launching the XPrize Water Scarcity competition, a $119 million, 5-year global competition that will accelerate innovations on water scarcity solutions and promote transformative desalination technologies to ensure equitable and sustainable access to clean water worldwide.

International cooperation is vital to accelerating action to address water scarcity, as exemplified by the Freshwater Challenge launched at the UN 2023 Water Conference and championed by the COP28 Presidency. At COP28, 38 new nations committed to protecting and restoring 30 percent of degraded freshwater ecosystems by 2030. The 2026 UN Water Conference will build on this momentum, reinforcing the UAE's commitment to global water resiliency and sustainable development.

As COP29 approaches, the UAE remains steadfast in ambitiously accelerating global action on water through innovation, investment in technology and data-driven solutions, and international cooperation.