Ministers and high-level officials from the 43 member states of the Union for the Mediterranean convened in Rome on Monday for the second UfM Ministerial Meeting on Water, the first such gathering since 2017.

They endorsed the Second UfM Ministerial Declaration on Water, setting out the region’s ambition and priorities for achieving water-related Sustainable Development Goals from 2026 to 2030, and launched the Rome Initiative to support the planning, financing and management of sustainable water systems.

The event was hosted by Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani, co-chaired by EU environment commissioner Jessika Roswall and Jordanian water minister Raed Abu al-Soud.

The summit took place amid mounting climate pressures and acute regional water scarcity. More than 180 million people in the region are classified as water poor, and 70 per cent of southern Europe’s population lives in areas with water stress in the summer.

The meeting was a key milestone ahead of the UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi, and ran alongside the Euro-Mediterranean Water Forum from September 29 to October 2, where policymakers are discussing desalination, water reuse and non-conventional water resources.