The Ministry of Environment and Climate Action (MAAC), to highlight the relevance of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Portugal and the World Bank in the areas of water access and management specially in vulnerable contexts and territories, promoted a Conference on Water scarcity in times of Climate Change, which took place on October 18th in the Nobre hall of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action, with the presence of several recognized experts in of the sector.
The conference began with an intervention by His Excellency the Minister of the Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, who recalled the Portuguese case, in which today, 99% of piped water in Portugal corresponds to the highest quality standards, thanks to the enormous investment that the country has been making since 1990, when only 15% of piped water was treated, and when supply failures were common.
Next, the Director of the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Water Security and Sanitation, Saroj Kumar Jha, highlighted the importance of water sector governance for improving the service provided and climate resilience.
After the opening session, followed three panels with relevant topics within the scope of this partnership with the World Bank, namely:
- Lessons learned from Cooperation between the World Bank and the AdP Group
- Resilience in urban supply and sanitation in times of climate change
- Better regulation for better governance
At the end of the Conference, the Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Portugal and the World Bank in the presence of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Francisco André
