The water sector is a part of every country's critical infrastructure. With increasing digitization, the water sector is becoming more efficient, but also more vulnerable to cyber-attacks, particularly when faced with a lack of awareness, capacity, and willingness to invest. Cyber-attacks on the water sector can endanger drinking water supply, water quality, transboundary flood risk reduction, water flows and water allocations, electricity, agricultural production, as well as wastewater collection and treatment systems with devastating effects on health, environment and economy.
At the national level, various efforts are under way to understand threats, manage risks, deal with the incidents, and develop capabilities and resilience. Cybersecurity risk management and assessment need to become central to water facilities governance. Partnership with the technology industry is essential.
Cybersecurity risks can only be effectively managed through enhanced international cooperation. This is especially important in transboundary river basins – attacks on the infrastructure of one country can also pose serious threats to facilities in other riparian countries.
While there is a consensus that international law, including the United Nations Charter in its entirety, applies to cybersecurity, unfortunately, the precise contours of how it does remains a subject of discussions. By adopting the UNGA Resolution 70/237 (2015), states agreed that they should not conduct or knowingly support hostile cybersecurity operations against critical infrastructure. States need to go a step further and clarify what protection international law offers specifically to water infrastructure both in peacetime situations and during armed conflicts.
The meeting will bring together experts from different countries, international organizations and the private sector to explore enhancements on implementation of SDG6 and SDG16 of the Agenda 2030. It will reaffirm commitment to multilateralism in the area of new challenges regarding water. To face these challenges, we need a networked multilateralism, strengthening coordination among multilateral and regional organizations; and an inclusive multilateralism, based on deep interaction with civil society, businesses, local and regional authorities and other stakeholders. Participants will explore possible practical follow-up to facilitate the exchange of information and best practices, and to discuss the implications of international law.