Sadiq Khan and Matt Damon put water in the spotlight at Climate Week NYC

Water will take centre stage at Climate Week NYC today with mayor of London and co-chair of C40 Cities, Sadiq Khan, joined by actor and clean water advocate, Matt Damon and his co-founder Gary White of Water.org, at The Climate Pledge Summit to discuss how to build resilient water systems in the face of a changing climate.

They will also talk about how the public, private, and non-profit sectors can partner to expand water access and improve water quality even as floods and droughts become more frequent and severe.

Climate Pledge Summit

The Climate Pledge Summit brings together leaders from across the globe to share progress, learn from one another, participate in deep-dive discussions, and drive powerful collaboration for climate action. C40 already works closely with The Climate Pledge, co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism, including on the Laneshift programme, which aims to decarbonise road freight across major cities in Latin America and India.

By 2050, more than 7.4 million people in C40 cities will be at risk from flooding, potentially costing $136bn in GDP annually over the next 30 years.

“More than half of the world’s population live in urban areas which are facing more frequent climate-induced water issues, including drought, flooding, sea-level rise, storms and water pollution”

Meanwhile, two-thirds of the world could face water shortages by next year, affecting 650 million urban residents by 2050. This could cost C40 cities $111bn annually.

C40 has worked with cities across the Global South to help build resilience to water risks, including:

• Durban, which is restoring river systems through community-led management programmes to reduce flood risk and protect ecosystems
• Rio de Janeiro, which has implemented an emergency protocol using SMS alerts and sirens to direct residents to pre-built shelters during flood events
• Dhaka North, which is expanding urban green space by 70 per cent and boosting rainwater harvesting facilities to manage rapid growth and enhance flood resilience.

“More than half of the world’s population live in urban areas which are facing more frequent climate-induced water issues, including drought, flooding, sea-level rise, storms and water pollution,” said Khan.