The contribution of PhD Candidate Giorgia Carratta and the LimnoPlast Project to the 2023 UN Water Conference (New York, USA)

The 2023 UN Water Conference – formally known as the 2023 Global Midterm Review Conference on the Implementation of the UN Decade for Water and Sanitation (2018-2028) – took place last month (22-24 March 2023) at the UN Headquarters, New York. Co-hosted by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Tajikistan, the Conference brought together world leaders, civil society, business leaders, young people, scientists, academics, the UN System and others around a common goal: to tackle the water crisis and set the world back on track to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 – On Clean Water and Sanitation. To this scope, the event included an opening and closing session, six plenary sessions, five interactive dialogues, and side events organized by participants.

Giorgia Carratta, PhD Candidate at the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management (Germany) for the LimnoPlast Project, gave a speech on the legal implications of freshwater microplastic pollution at the hybrid side event titled “Mainstreaming Ecological Restoration in Freshwater Ecosystems: Insights from Law, Practice and Research around the World”. Organized by the University of Evora, the Society of Ecological Restoration and Water4All, this event brought together a global panel of experts to discuss legal challenges and policy opportunities related to the restoration of freshwater ecosystems. In this context, Giorgia highlighted the disruptive effects of microplastic pollution on aquatic habitats today and the need to encourage preventive actions over recovery-oriented strategies.

Last but not least, at the end of the event, Giorgia had the honour and pleasure of signing a voluntary commitment to promote the adoption of standards-based ecological restoration for inland and coastal waters.