Jakarta, October 10, 2025 — UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Water, Retno L. P. Marsudi, called for stronger international cooperation, innovation, and investment to tackle the world’s escalating water crisis. Speaking at the Indonesia International Sustainability Forum (ISF) 2025, she urged governments, businesses, and communities to place water at the center of sustainability policies.

“Water is our life. This is not just a slogan, it is a fact,” she said, highlighting that billions of people still live without access to safe water, sanitation, or sustainable irrigation. Marsudi warned that population growth, climate change, urbanization, and pollution are converging into a “perfect storm” that threatens global freshwater systems.

Drawing from her nearly one-year experience as the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Water, she noted growing attention to water-related issues but emphasized that progress remains far from sufficient. Marsudi identified three major challenges that must be urgently addressed: infrastructure, technology, and investment.

She underscored the urgent need to upgrade aging or inadequate water infrastructure to make it climate-resilient and inclusive. “Infrastructure must be integrated with natural systems. Wetlands, aquifers, and watersheds are also part of our infrastructure that we must protect,” she said.

On technology, Marsudi called for scaling up smart water management tools, such as leak-detection sensors, satellite-based forecasting, and water reuse systems. These technologies, she noted, should be people-centered and accessible to vulnerable communities.

Marsudi also highlighted the global investment gap in the water sector, estimated at up to 600 billion US dollars annually. “Water is often seen as a low-return, high-risk sector, but this is not true,” she stressed, citing a World Bank study showing that every dollar invested in water generates a sevenfold return.

She concluded by urging all stakeholders to act with determination. “Water is not only a sector, it is a connector. To fix water is to advance broader goals for a just, sustainable, and prosperous world,” she said. “Let us act with urgency, not out of fear, but out of hope.”