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Under Secretary Zeya’s Virtual Remarks for 2024 World Water Week Conference [ https://www.state.gov/under-secretary-zeyas-virtual-remarks-for-2024-world-water-week-conference/ ] 08/26/2024 03:47 PM EDT
Uzra Zeya, Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights
Stockholm, Sweden
Home [ https://www.state.gov ]Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights [ https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-civilian-security-democracy-and-human-rights/ ] Remarks & Releases [ /bureaus-archive/under-secretary-for-civilian-security-democracy-and-human-rights ]…Under Secretary Zeya’s Virtual Remarks for 2024 World Water Week Conference hide
Under Secretary Zeya’s Virtual Remarks for 2024 World Water Week Conference
August 25, 2024
“As Prepared.”
Good morning and welcome.  My name is Uzra Zeya, and I am the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights at the U.S. Department of State. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all joining this session today, both in Stockholm and virtually from around the globe.
Stretching across the southern border of the Tibetan Plateau, the Himalayan Mountain region includes over 100,000 square kilometers of glaciers, one of the largest stores of frozen water in the world. These reserves are crucial sources of freshwater not only for those in the region, but also for over 1.8 billion people downstream.  The Himalayan Region and Tibetan plateau and their fragile ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to climate change. As increased temperatures imperil this frozen cache of freshwater high in the mountains, we are reminded of the imperative to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, keeping us below that 1.5 degrees Celsius benchmark, to help preserve these majestic glaciers. 
And we recognize that regional climate conversations cannot be divorced from governance issues.  Opaque governance institutions and infrastructure development without inclusive public input exacerbate the impact of warming temperatures. In recent years, the PRC has dramatically increased large-scale water diversion projects and hydropower development across the Tibetan Plateau.  Infrastructure on the Plateau also impacts water resources of the Brahmaputra, Indus, and Mekong. These policies have been designed and implemented without input from the six million Tibetans in China and are contributing to displacement of Tibetan communities. Scientists also struggle to obtain and verify data from Tibetan areas of China, which has vast implications for research and policy development. Without transparent information on areas like snowpack melt, regional partners are hindered from preventing, preparing for, and adapting to our changing climate. 
Working together on shared resources is challenging, but critical for shared prosperity. We have learned that transparency and trust are a vital part of maintaining these partnerships. The U.S. and Canada, for example, share the longest political border in the world. It spans the Great Lakes and dozens of shared rivers, including the Columbia River, the namesake of a treaty that has governed our nations’ water security cooperation for over 60 years. We are in the process of modernizing the treaty, where we seek to set the stage for how our two countries will work together in the future to adapt to the effects of climate change, protect vulnerable communities, and elevate U.S. Tribes’ and Canadian Indigenous Nations’ voices. 
Despite the challenges, now is the time to develop innovative and inclusive solutions. The UN General Assembly declared 2025 the “Year of International Glaciers’ Preservation.”  On the brink of 2025 and responding to this call to action, we look forward to hearing from our expert moderator and panelists, and our NGO organizing partner, the International Water Management Institute, who will share perspectives on advancing regional collaboration and meaningful inclusion to address water security challenges, through the lens of glaciers.  The United States is committed to advancing our partnership with the stakeholders from across the world with us today as we work together to tackle climate change and advance a more water secure world for all.  Thank you again for joining this important conversation.
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