FEATURED NEWS

Gathering water leaders for success, SIWW2022 convened industry captains, government, and experts to share plans, challenges, and achievements against impacts of climate change

The 9th Singapore International Water Week was a hotspot for nuggets of wisdom as renowned water leaders, who descended into Singapore shores for the event week, went head-in to discuss immediate action required to tackle climate change. This was against the backdrop of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, and mitigation of climate change.

When asked for a few words on what water means to them, here are some responses from our water leaders:

• “Thriving people and country.”
  – Maree Lang, Managing Director, Greater Western Water


• “Defend our water resources.”
  – Patrick Blethlon, Chief Executive Officer, SAUR Group


• “People. Planet. Prosperity. Passion.”
  – Jennifer Sara, Global Director for Water Global Practice, World Bank Group


• “It will always remain challenging, we won’t find perfect policies perfect tools… Whatever we’ve got, let’s start.”
  – Neeta Pokhrel, Chief of Water Sector Group, ADB


• “Mission. It is a mission that we have, servicing our public.”
  – JV Emmanuel “Jocot” de Dios, President and Chief Executive Officer, Manila Water Company


• “Life. Water is the basis for all life”
  – Mads Leth, CEO, VCS Denmark

TF.8: ARe YoU Water Resilient (RUWR)? Asian Development Bank’s Initiatives and Call for Action to Strengthen Water Entities to Embed Resilience in Asia and the Pacific – Curtain Raiser and Pre-launch Dialogue

A highlight of today’s 10 thematic forums was one organised by Asian Development Bank and PUB. As Asia and the Pacific are the most disaster-prone region in the world, climate change is likely to exacerbate and intensify the impacts of natural hazards, with unprecedented effects on local economies, populations, and the environment.

Helmed by panellists, Dr Debra Roberts, Co-Chair, IPCC, Peter Joo Hee Ng, CEO, PUB, Taqsem Khan, Managing Director, Dhaka WASA, Neeta Pokhrel, Chief of Water Sector Group, ADB and moderated by Pritha Hariram, Head of Department, Ramboll Singapore, the forum went front and centre with engaging discussions on the urgent need for resilient water management, integral to climate change adaptation. Alongside that was the need for innovative approaches identified at the local level and aligned with national, regional, and global water goals required to tackle these challenges. To this end, ADB shared their latest “ARe yoU Water Resilient” (RUWR) initiative, a dedicated technical assistance platform established to support members in becoming water-secure and resilient.

BF.3: India Business Forum

India is aspiring to become 5 trillion-dollar economy by 2025. To do so, under the “Jal Jeevan Mission”, the government of India has taken up the massive programme of providing functional tap to every rural household in the country by 2024. The target is to provide 160 million tap connections.

Held in conjunction with SIWW2022, the India Business Forum – one of the largest held during the show – unfolded the latest developments and goals in the water and waste-water sector in India. It included:

• Success of Swatch Bharat Mission (SBM) 1.0 and plans for SBM 2.0, like liquid and solid waste management and reuse of grey water to make rapid improvements in managing their faecal sludge
• Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart City Mission (SCM) focusing on implementing sanitation and solid waste management projects in the cities across the country
• AMRUT 2.0 will focus on providing 24x7 water supply to 500 cities of the country

Water Convention Technical Sessions

Riding on yesterday’s line-up of Water Convention technical sessions, day 2 today featured some 20 sessions that covered a wide-ranging list of topics that were cities centric. From Water Master-Planning for Cities, Systems Approaches to Service Delivery, to Resource Circularity, Flood Resilience for Cities of the Future, as well as Carbon Circularity, it was easy to get conversations going as discussion points were highly relatable to the talk of the town – tackling effects of climate change that is.

Water Convention Closing Plenary

Ending on a high note, the Water Convention Closing Plenary had Young Water professionals share their reflections of the conference proceedings over the past 3 days. Delegates also had the opportunity to witness the Best Poster Awards Ceremony.

Here are the winners:

Water Convention 2022 Best Poster Winners

* * * * *

Water Convention 2022 Student’s Poster Winner

Our heartiest congratulations to all our winners!

Water Expo @ SIWW2022

‘Digitalisation’ was a buzzword that popped up unanimously at the Water Leaders Summit, Plenary 4 session, where water leaders weighed in on global water megatrends that will shape the water industry in the next 10-15 years.

Aligned to this, the Water Expo featured a wide gamut of the latest innovations in water, with digital solutions emerging as powerful levers for change. This was seen through a dedicated Digital Solutions Pavilion that made its debut at SIWW2022, as well as Imagine H2O and Ripple2Wave Pavilions which provided opportunities for some 27 water start-ups to connect with investors, partners, and buyers to advance commercialisation of exciting and new water technologies.

Our newly launched digital content hub went live on 17 April 2022!

All SIWW2022 sessions will be available on SIWW+, accessible only to Water Leaders Summit, Water Convention Premium and On-Demand pass holders. Uploaded sessions include:

• TechXchange
• Hot Issues Workshops
• Joint Opening
• Water Convention Opening Plenary
• Environment & Water Leaders Forum
• Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize Lecture
• Water Leaders Summit (Plenary 1 – 4)

Your login credentials to SIWW2022 on-demand content have been sent to you via email. For assistance, please email support@commontown.com.

In addition, browse free sections of SIWW+ containing articles, publications, and videos of past SIWW editions, including last year’s fully virtual SIWW2021.

Sign up for an on-demand pass here >>

Professional Development Units (PDUs)

For professional and chartered engineers, SIWW2022 is accredited with Professional Development Units by the Singapore Professional Engineers Board (PEB). To claim your PDUs, please email your full name and email address registered with PEB and your PEB Membership Number to registration@siww.com.sg by 30 April 2022.

The PDUs will be accorded to you based on your attendance at SIWW2022.