Under the auspices of the World Forum, the attending also took part in the parliamentary meeting of the member states of the Inter-Parliamentary Union with the topic “Mobilising Parliamentary Action on Water for Shared Prosperity”.

On the occasion Snezana Paunovic attended the ceremonial reception organised for the delegates by the Indonesian Parliament Speaker.

On the sidelines of the 10th World Water Forum Snezana Paunovic also had meetings with the parliamentary delegations of the Republic of Indonesia, Slovenia, Morocco, Angola, Bahrein and China.

In the course of the debate she warned the attending that the world is facing an unprecedented water crisis due to overuse and climate change.

“This precious resource needs to be preserved and its quality maintained, water is vital for the functioning of all the organisms on the planet”, said Paunovic.

She stressed that climate change is both a global and national problem. “On one hand we are facing water shortage in terms of precipitation, on the other with extreme precipitation that leads to floods and immense material damage.”

She added that to better adapt to climate change, the Republic of Serbia had passed the Low Carbon Development Strategy that has measures to mitigate climate change, as well as the Programme for Adaptation to Changed Climate Condition that provides insight into the impact of the climate and adaptation measures for the three priority sectors – agriculture, forestry and water management.

“Serbia is striving to become a low-carbon society resilient to climate change”, Paunovic concluded.

The World Forum was attended by around 17.000 participants from 73 countries.