The India Forum for NbS partners played a pivotal role in driving positive change at COP 28, held in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December 2023. Here’s a roundup of key achievements by our partners:

1. Launch of Global River Cities Alliance

Taking a step towards building global momentum towards river conservation and sustainable water management, the Global River Cities Alliance (GRCA) was launched at COP-28 in Dubai on December 10, 2023. The GRCA is modelled after India’s River Cities Alliance (RCA), established by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in November 2021. The RCA currently has 142 Indian river cities as members that are actively working to enhance the state of urban rivers within their administrative boundaries. The GRCA covers 275+ global river cities in 11 countries, international funding agencies and knowledge partners to foster collaborative knowledge sharing. NMCG and NIUA will take the role of the Secretariat of the Alliance to generate the initial momentum on the activities such as knowledge exchange, capacity development, high-level advocacy, and bi-lateral interactions among member cities.

2. Freshwater Challenge Gains Momentum as 37 countries join the initiative

The Freshwater Challenge was launched on 23rd March 2023 at UN 2023 Water Conference in New York. 37 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and the Pacific joined the initiative at COP28. The initiative aims to ensure 300,000 km of degraded rivers and 350 million hectares of degraded wetlands are committed to restoration by 2030, and to protect freshwater ecosystem. It urges all governments to integrate clear targets for protecting and restoring healthy freshwater ecosystems in their National Biodiversity Strategies, Nationally Determined Contributions, National Adaptation Plans and National Implementation Plans for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Spearheaded by a consortium of nations, the Freshwater challenge is supported by Conservation International, IUCN, the Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands, The Nature Conservancy, Wetlands International, OECD, UNEP (under the auspices of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration), and WWF.

#NbS4India Forum partners are leading the way in driving collaborative action for a healthier planet.
These initiatives at COP 28 demonstrate the power of collective action in addressing critical water
and environmental challenges.
Stay tuned for other exciting developments from the #NbS4India Forum!