Changes from plenary report to adopted text

(j) strengthen global water resilience as a means of fostering stability through the effective implementation of the EU’s Water Resilience Strategy, in particular its global actions aimed at supporting access to water and sanitation for at least 70 million people and at strengthening global water governance and engagement in multilateral forums such as the G7, the G20 and the Baku Dialogue on Water for Climate Action;

(k) invest in a more transparent overview of all ongoing EU support dedicated to the promotion of transboundary water management internationally and ensure the coherence and streamlining of all work and funding across all relevant Directorates-General and between the EEAS and the Commission, while ensuring that the various programmes complement each other and do not overlap; strengthen communication on the EU’s efforts and achievements in the field of transboundary water cooperation to raise the profile of this essential tool and the EU’s leading role in its implementation;

(l) promote enhanced international cooperation, including at the level of river basin organisations, to address the growing water crisis; ensure and improve access to clean and high-quality water and sanitation; promote sustainable water management, increase the reuse of water, tackle water pollution, overuse and waste, and implement various innovative water technologies, including nature-based solutions;

(m) ensure that EU water initiatives worldwide address the persisting data gaps and lack of data sharing between governments by means of equipping partner countries with technical and physical resources to effectively monitor water levels and the quality of transboundary basins, and by exchanging data and fostering common standards for data collection between partner countries in order to increase compatibility; serve as a credible and trusted actor in facilitating the exchange of reliable water information among governments, stakeholders and the public in water-stressed and high-tension settings, including where the sharing of information is sensitive due to security concerns; build on relevant EU experience, programmes, practices and strategies to strengthen the sharing of best practice between regional and national actors, building on relevant EU programmes, practices and strategies;

(o) underline the principle of policy coherence for development and of EU policy alignment with partner countries’ development priorities, informed by assessments of their impact on local resources, in order to jointly avoid water depletion or pollution in non-EU countries;

(p) enhance the implementation of integrated water resource management as the core tool that promotes the coordinated development and sustainable management of water, land and related resources, also across borders, in line with SDG indicator 6.5.2, for the mutual benefit of the riparian states, as well as highlighting the importance of the water-energy-food-ecosystem nexus in addressing synergies and trade-offs on water across the EU’s external action;

(q) strengthen EU monitoring and early warning capacities through digitalisation and modern technologies, including satellite surveillance and real-time pollution tracking, which are essential for preventing and combating cross-border pollution and supporting disaster risk reduction; strengthen the monitoring of water scarcity and water-related conflict risks worldwide, such as the weaponisation of water and water infrastructure and the deliberate deprivation of access to water, integrating this monitoring into the conflict-prevention systems of the EEAS Crisis Response Centre;

(r) incentivise and finance research on sustainable transboundary water management, water sharing, cooperation and innovation, including through Horizon Europe, and explore emerging challenges such as weather modification activities;

(s) consider tasking the EU Special Representative for Human Rights with preventing and resolving water-related conflicts, promoting water cooperation and the rule of law, and protecting water sources and systems, including during armed conflicts and in transboundary settings and leading, on behalf of the EU, international efforts to protect and restore water ecosystems in line with SDG 6, as water resilience is crucial in addressing current and future health, food, energy and security crises; consult Parliament on the mandate, resources and cooperation arrangements supporting the work of the EU Special Representative for Human Rights;

(t) strengthen the role of international law and the competent international courts, and promote dialogue, mediation and regional solutions as primary tools for resolving disputes over transnational water bodies, ensuring clarity and accountability regarding the legal obligations of all states bordering the waters concerned; systematically condemn the use of water as a weapon in conflicts; ensure that perpetrators are held to account;

(u) support legal initiatives aimed at securing justice and compensation for the deliberate targeting and destruction of water supplies and infrastructure;

2. Instructs its President to forward this recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.