The time for a global approach to accelerating Sustainable Development Goal 6 — sustainable water management, access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene — is now. Technology and innovation must be front-and-centre in this process.

Water touches almost every aspect of human life, from our daily consumption and hygiene to macro-infrastructure ranging from agriculture, energy production, manufacturing and other industries to transportation. Climate change is a looming crisis threatening to disrupt humanity’s relationship with water in every imaginable way, from rising sea levels and volatile precipitation patterns to the exacerbation of water pollution and contamination.

Research by the World Bank has shown more than two billion people globally continue to struggle with access to safe drinking water, with greater disparities between urban and rural communities — the latter, particularly across the Global South, experiencing more significant water stress. If the impact to global water resources remains unaddressed, dwindling water supplies could risk placing more than four billion people across 25 countries in high water stress.

Over the past few years, we have seen extraordinary advances in water innovations and global partnerships — such as the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative’s $150 million investment to launch the $119 million, five-year global XPrize Water Scarcity competition, and the Bezos Earth Fund’s $10 million grant to Water.org — to help build and reinforce resilient and sustainable water systems.

From novel desalination solutions to increase safe water supplies, or innovative processes on groundwater management and irrigation, we are standing on the verge of a new era of water resilience powered by cutting-edge technology.

This emphasis on innovation was featured strongly across COP28 convenings in Dubai last year, particularly around the Action Agenda of the COP Presidency’s priority areas for water, including protecting and restoring freshwater ecosystems, enhancing urban water resilience, and building water-resilient food systems.

Looking to COP29 and beyond, we must continue to use these building blocks to unlock greater innovation in water access, usage and efficiency, leveraging cutting-edge technologies to devise new ways of strengthening water supplies globally.

Our own UAE Water Security Strategy aims to reuse 95 per cent of treated water and supply more than 75 per cent of drinking water through reverse osmosis by 2036. Projects such as the Taweelah Reverse Osmosis facility in Abu Dhabi and the Hassyan seawater desalination project are further testament to this vision of what is possible, by leveraging low-carbon technologies and renewable energy sources, such as solar power, to accelerate the desalinated water process.

Signature initiatives, such as the Water Transformation programme launched by Abu Dhabi Sustainable Water Solutions Company, have also enabled 80 per cent use of recycled water in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, ensuring access to clean and high-quality water while preserving vital local water resources.

It is also important to emphasise here how innovation, while pivotal, must always be interlinked with global collaboration — convening a diverse range of stakeholders, from indigenous communities to policymakers and innovators, to exchange best practices and learn from one another.

The 2026 United Nations Water Conference, co-hosted by the UAE and Senegal, is emblematic of this inclusive, action-oriented approach, prioritising the importance of bringing diverse voices together to co-create innovative ways to accelerate the implementation of SDG 6.

Stakeholders will have the opportunity to exchange lessons and knowledge, and co-create initiatives and partnerships as we work collectively towards a more optimistic and sustainable water future, and greater resilience for all. This is important because the world needs it. Empowering water resilience requires the global community to acknowledge the power of technology and innovation.

The UAE remains committed to creating new pathways to foster greater international collaboration and encourage the cross-pollination of new ideas, innovations and solutions to reimagine our relationship with water and co-create climate resilience together.

• Abdulla Al Balalaa is the Assistant Minister of Energy and Sustainability Affairs in the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs