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Report of JSC-MLIT-MOE-UN Habitat Session at 4th Asia-Pacific Water Summit
Session title: TOWARD THE REALIZATION OF APPROPRIATE WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT TO CONTRIBUTE TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Session date & time: Saturday 23 April 2022, 17:30-19:00
Session venue: Kumamoto-Jo Hall - Kumamoto City, Japan
Session organizers: Japan Sanitation Consortium (JSC) in collaboration with
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT); Japan
Ministry of the Environment (MOE); Japan
UN-Habitat
Session moderator:
Session overview: This session was held in order to discuss the urgent and essential matter of accelerating and improving wastewater management in the Asia-Pacific region. It was hosted on April 23, 2022 by the Japan Sanitation Consortium and UN-Habitat, in cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan and the Ministry of the Environment of Japan.
The session started with opening remarks from the representatives of two ministries of Japan: Mr. Norihiro Nakayama, State Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and Mr. Yasushi Hosaka, Parliamentary Vice-Minister of the Environment. State Minister Nakayama emphasized that the central and local governments should commit to strong governance for wastewater management, and Parliamentary Vice-Minister Hosaka mentioned the need to develop appropriate wastewater treatment facilities and strengthen partnerships among countries.
In the first half of the session, Mr. Seiichi Onodera from JICA gave a keynote speech on sustainable sanitation improvement, titled “Development of wastewater treatment facilities that contribute to sustainable development, operation and maintenance and cooperation with stakeholders”. Then, Dr. Avi Sarkar from UN-Habitat delivered an address on the achievement of SDGs, titled “Access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene facilities and improvement of water quality”.
In the latter half, Dr. Taku Fujiwara, Professor at the Department of Environmental Engineering of Kyoto University, and moderator of the session, chaired the discussion with the panelists who presented different experiences and challenges faced to accelerate the progress of SDG 6.3 and promote measures against climate change.
In conclusion, Dr. Fujiwara summarized the session through a proposal including the key messages mentioned above for the three Integrated Sessions, respectively on governance, finance, and science and technology.
Number of attendees: 27 in person; 96 online
Session agenda
1) Opening remarks:
- [Mr. Norihito Nakayama; State Minister of Land, Infrastructure, transport and Tourism (MLIT); Japan]
- [Mr. Yasushi Hosaka; Parliamentary Vice-Minister of the Environment (MOE); Japan]
2) Keynote speech:
[Mr. Seiichi Onodera; Senior Vice President; Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)]
Title: Development of wastewater treatment facilities that contribute to sustainable development, operation and maintenance and cooperation with stakeholders
3) Thematic speech:
[Dr. Avi Sarkar; Regional Advisor; South-East Asia: UBS; UN-Habitat]
Title: Access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene facilities and improvement of water quality
4) Panel discussion
[Mr. Ryuji Uematsu; Director General; Sewerage and Wastewater Management Dept.; Water and Disaster Management Bureau; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)]
Title: Sewerage in Japan and AWaP activities
[Dr. Pham Ngoc Bao (for WEPA); Deputy Director; Adaptation and Water; Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)]
Title: Brief Introduction of Water Environment Partnership in Asia (WEPA)
[Ms. Allison Woodruff; Principal Water Security Specialist; Asian Development Bank (ADB)]
Title: Financing sanitation
[Mr. Numeri Zaman; Joint Secretary (Policy Support Branch); Local Gov. Division; Ministry of Local Government; Rural Development & Co-operatives; Bangladesh]
Title: City-Wide Inclusive Sanitation
[Ms. Meena Shrestha; Joint Secretary; Ministry of Water Supply (MoWS); Nepal]
Title: Nepal WASH sector status overview
[Dr. Mai Thi Lien Huong; Director General; Administration of Technical Infrastructure; Ministry of Construction (MOC); Vietnam]
Title: Policy and future challenges in the field of Sewerage in Vietnam
Key discussion points:
Based on the legal system and framework made by the central government, the relevant stakeholders – such as the central government and local governments, the private sector and citizens – share responsibility for the development of sewage works. In addition, it is very important to strengthen partnership among countries to share knowledge, experiences, technologies, and solutions.
Recommendations for the three Integrated Sessions:
1) Science and Technology
It is recommended to consider various regional characteristics – such as population, climate change, biodiversity, culture and health (including infectious diseases) – to select the most appropriate technologies. It is also particularly important to promote the beneficial use of wastewater sludge, treated effluent, and risk information.
2) Governance
It is critical to establish a legal system and technical standards in order to clarify the responsibilities of central and local governments, private companies, and residents. In addition, it is very important to strengthen partnership among countries to share knowledge, experiences, technologies, and solutions.
3) Finance
It should be considered that the public sector (both central and local governments) ascertains whether its investments in wastewater management provide a prompt and necessary boost to accelerate the implementation of SDGs and climate change measures as well as to attract private sector investments.