A man jogs along the harbour wall in Apia, the capital of Samoa.“Water is life. No other definition captures quite so aptly what this essential element means for our lives, livelihoods and the natural environment. We must recognize that for the people of Samoa, as Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa explains below, their waters are a source of life as well as a source of beauty.
UN Photo/Ariane Rummery (file photo)
Access to water
Although it is considered both a renewable and a non-renewable resource, water is becoming scarce and is expected to reach a critical point by 2040. “A continuum of land and ocean deeply connected by culture and history defines our identity as islanders, voyagers, and people of the Pacific. For more than two millennia, our islands have been our home; our rivers and ocean; our pathways.”
With this in mind, we have engaged extensively with communities and partners across Samoa over the past six months to develop the Vai O Le Ola (Water of Life) Report. Launched ahead of the UN Water Conference in New York (22-24 March), the report draws on insights from these consultations to set out a response to the Triple Planetary Crisis and propose integrated approaches of restoring the quality and resilience of Samoa’s water system. The use of the Triple Planetary Crisis framework provides a valuable basis for the measurement of losses and damages which countries like Samoa experience due to climate change and pollution including deterioration of water ecosystem services.
An integrated path forward
Improving the quality of this critical source of life must begin with the integration of all relevant policies and strategies on climate change, ocean management, socio-economic development, waste management, and biodiversity conservation into one overarching framework. © Unsplash/Adli Wahid
For our UN country team in Samoa, improving water quality is a central, cross-cutting priority which not only protects communities and helps prevent disease, but also feeds into our broader efforts to address the Triple Planetary Crisis of climate disruption, nature loss and pollution. United Nations Targeted interventions including the Vai O Le Ola Trust Fund and Knowledge Crowdsourcing Platform, and programmes on Innovative Climate and Nature Financing, Social Entrepreneurship for Climate Resilience, Community Access to Clean Energy, Zero Plastic Waste, are central to the Triple Planetary Crisis Response Plan in Samoa and across the Pacific.
As the UN Water Conference continues at UN headquarters in New York, Simona Marinescu, the UN Resident Coordinator in Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tokelau explains why finding a solution to provide all people access to clean and safe water remains a priority for the UN. In Samoa and other Pacific Small Island Developing States, access to clean water represents a huge challenge. Although these islands enjoy abundant rainfall – 2 to 4 times the average global annual precipitation, poor waste management systems and lack of adequate infrastructure means that the availability of clean water is severely limited. Nature-based Watershed Management is another key initiative outlined in the Vai O Le Ola report which will support agro-forestry, reforestation and invasive species management, flood management and biodiversity conservation linked to water systems. Nukunonu Atoll seaside is one of the regions of the world vulnerable to the impact of the climate change. In 2022, Ecuador was the first country in the world to recognize and implement the “rights of nature” followed by Colombia which established legal personality for the Atrato River in recognition of the biocultural rights of indigenous communities. In Samoa, the National Human Rights Institution is already discussing how the right to a clean, safe and sustainable environment will be operationalized into law.