June 13th 2025, by Dr Ben Howard, Research Associate, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London
Dr Ben Howard is an early career representative on the UK National Committee for the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme.
Ben was asked by the UK Permanent Delegation to UNESCO (UKPD) to write a blog for FCDO colleagues, reflecting on his experiences at the UNESCO IHP 50th anniversary celebrations and associated conference held in Paris this month. We are reproducing Ben's blog here with the kind permission of Ben, the UKPD, and UKCEH.
Would you swim in the Thames?
Amidst reports of dangerous levels of water pollution it would seem ill-advised to take a dip in our urban waterways. But walking to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris this morning I passed the Grenelle bathing area, one of three public bathing sites opening in a few weeks that will see swimmers return to the river Seine for the first time in over a century.
The massive clean-up effort that enabled this return was made possible by hydrological scientists, policy makers, and water managers working together with citizens, and backed up by no small amount of public pressure (in this case surrounding the Olympics in 2024). These critical partnerships and political motivation are forged and cultivated by the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP), which this week celebrates its 50th anniversary at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
From water knowledge to water action
The IHP is the only UN intergovernmental initiative dedicated to water. It serves to advance water science and sustainable water management, turning knowledge into action to better understand, protect, and manage this critical resource. It deals with tackling water pollution, like in the river Seine, but also manging floods and droughts, preserving glaciers, and ensuring clean drinking water for all, a fundamental human right.
I am lucky enough to be the early career researcher joining the UK delegation to the IHP 50th anniversary events, and more so to be accompanied by some of the top water experts in the world. The UK is a global leader in water science, innovation, and management; our universities educate hydrologists and produce world-leading hydrological research; our companies and start-ups drive water technology and information innovation; and our consultancies have a long history of delivering water engineering and adaptation projects for governments globally.
Water as the great connector
Hosting these hydrological highfliers is critical to tackle the multiple water challenges we face at home. In the UK, flood risk is increasing with implications not only for the livelihoods of those directly affected, but also for national economic prosperity. Droughts could become more common, threatening public water supply and food and energy security. Our rivers and lakes are plagued by pollution, damaging biodiversity and preventing people enjoying the natural environment. Tackling these challenges will require leveraging all of our national hydrological capacity, in academia, industry, and wider society.
But we are not alone in these challenges. Water is the great connector, connecting us all through the global hydrological cycle and linking global challenges like climate change and sustainable development. Working towards global water security has massive potential to catalyse transformative change in connected global challenges because it forces short‐ to long‐term thinking, consideration of complex and uncertain processes, and centring on equity of decisions and outcomes. In this light, water security represents a global goal to unite every place, person, and process.
Embodying a global water community
The IHP is central to realising this global goal. In its first 50 years it has catalysed a game-changing shift in motivation to address global water security, and it continues to push beyond evidence evaluation and discussion to real‐world action. The IHP embodies a global water community that is responsible for reminding the world that water is life—we cannot live without it – and as such, water must be central to global planning and decision making.
Organisations from the UK participating in IHP’s 50th Anniversary events in Paris include UKCEH, Imperial College London, University of Birmingham (UNESCO Chair in Water Science), University of Dundee (UNESCO Category 2 Centre for Water Law Policy & Science), University of Coventry, University of Plymouth, and University of Bristol. UKCEH works closely with the FCDO and the UK National Commission for UNESCO to coordinate input to the IHP.
This website was produced by the UK National Commission for UNESCO as part of its Local to Global programme, made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.
