U.S. Water Partnership Launched

U.S. public and private sector entities announced at the recent United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio, Brazil, that they are dedicating over half a billion U.S. dollars to address key water challenges around the world through the newly formed U.S. Water Partnership, which is supported by 41 member organizations, including government agencies, academic organizations, water coalitions, NGOs, and private companies.

“I am proud to announce that the American people are doing our part by coming together through the U.S. Water Partnership, a public-private partnership that is pooling resources and mobilizing American expertise, knowledge, and ingenuity to address water challenges around the globe, especially in developing countries where needs are the greatest,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said when she announced the Partnership on March 22, 2012.

The Global Environment & Technology Foundation is serving as the secretariat of the U.S. Water Partnership, which will provide access to knowledge, technical assistance and training, and partnership development services in support of water security around the world.

“This public-private partnership on water will allow us to bring together the very best thinking on water issues to share, integrate and ultimately solve, we hope, water challenges,” said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency General Counsel Scott Fulton at the U.N.’s Rio+20 conference. “Like all of our sustainability work, this effort is ultimately about protecting health and the environment, and at the same time we strengthen our economy. It’s also about preparing our nations and our planet for a future where limited resources will have to meet the needs of an ever growing population.”

The U.S. welcomes additional partners in this critical effort. As Secretary Clinton said in a message to U.S. Water Partnership launch participants, “If you represent a region or a country in need of cross-sector water solutions, please reach out to us as this partnership was formed primarily to serve your needs. If you are an American citizen or organization with water knowledge and resources to share, I invite you to join the effort.”