Intl cooperation urged on water resource management to fight climate change

Foreign diplomats in China have called for enhancing international cooperation on the management of water resources, as the climate crisis threat looms larger around the globe.

They made the remarks at an event to celebrate World Water Day on Friday at the National Water Museum of China in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province.

The event was jointly held by the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for East Asia, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research.

Martin Orlando, deputy head of mission at the Uruguayan embassy in China, said, like many other countries, Uruguay is suffering from the impact of climate change on access to water.

"My country, Uruguay, used to have plenty water, thanks to a tropical temperate climate with considerably stable raining patterns... Yet due to the impact of climate change, these certainties and natural privileges long enjoyed by Uruguay are now under threat," he said.

From the second half of 2022 until the middle of last year, Uruguay suffered one of the most severe droughts in history, he said.

He stressed that international cooperation is only one way to face the problems caused by climate change.

Orlando highlighted the cooperation between Uruguay and China in water resources management.

In September, the two countries held the First Uruguay-China Joint Committee on Water Resources in Beijing, and in November a meaningful meeting was held between Uruguay's Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries Fernando Mattos and Chinese Minister of Water Resources Li Guoying, he noted.

He said in April, through a collaboration with China Water Resources Beifang Investigation Design and Research Co, more than 20 Uruguayan public officials will participate in a course on water resources management in China.

Mads Vesterager Nielsen, commercial consul for water and environment at the Danish consulate general in Shanghai, said China's experiences in the industrial reuse of water can be instructive for other countries.

There are a lot of technologies and management solutions here in China in this regard. "And this is actually something that we together with Danish companies have been looking into because we think it's a very, very interesting area where there are also some Danish companies that are able to assist in this endeavor," he said.

The industrial reuse of water is a great help for the environment and also for combating climate change in general, he noted.