Water Day

Water is at the core of land health, ecosystem stability, climate resilience, and human well-being. Yet freshwater systems are under increasing stress due to accelerating land degradation, drought, climate change, biodiversity loss, and unsustainable land and water management practices. 

Within the mandate of the UNCCD, water is increasingly recognized as a critical entry point for strengthening drought resilience, restoring degraded lands, mitigating the impacts of Sand and Dust Storms (SDS), and advancing Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).The land–water nexus is central to these challenges. Healthy soils and functioning landscapes regulate hydrological cycles by enhancing water infiltration, groundwater recharge, moisture retention, and vegetation cover, while degraded lands reduce water storage capacity, increase runoff and erosion, and intensify drought conditions.

In turn, water scarcity and unsustainable water use further accelerate land degradation and desertification processes, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of ecological and socio-economic vulnerability. These interconnected pressures also contribute to the frequency and severity of SDS events, as degraded, dry and unvegetated soils become major sources of wind erosion and airborne dust. SDS not only degrade soil productivity and water quality, but also threaten human health, food systems, infrastructure, livelihoods, and regional stability, with impacts often extending far beyond their source areas.

Water insecurity is deeply intertwined with broader socio-economic challenges, including food insecurity, displacement and human mobility, reduced access to education, particularly in drought-affected communities, and increased risks to stability and security. Addressing these interconnected crises therefore requires integrated land and water management approaches that simultaneously strengthen ecosystem resilience, reduce SDS risks, and support sustainable development outcomes. 

Within the context of COP17, Water Day aims to strengthen the drought and SDS agenda by promoting integrated land and water approaches and reinforcing the land–water nexus as a foundation for resilience. Water Day will showcase solutions that improve water retention in landscapes, restore soil and vegetation cover, reduce erosion and dust emissions, enhance drought resilience, and promote sustainable and inclusive land and water governance. We invite you to explore the Day's programme of events.