We owe our present existence to hair loss and sweat on bare skin. These evolutionary traits gave us thermoregulation, which allowed us to thrive outside the shade of the forest. It also created a total dependence on immediate access to water that has stayed with us to this day.

They have been our partners in evolution, and now they are under threat. Wetlands represent the subtle link between land and water, which is why they suffer the consequences of climate change, overexploitation, and pollution. They should be considered internationally as carbon sinks and crucial ecosystems for 40% of the world's biodiversity. They are the best sustainability advisors we have. 

Last May, we completed a well construction project at the Ngubo school in the Lupane district, one of the poorest in Zimbabwe. The benefits for students and their families show how improved access to water changes lives: it provides health and dignity, boosts the educational process, and generates knowledge to adapt to the climate crisis and fight against poverty.

Violence and the climate crisis have already displaced 100 million people worldwide. The meeting "Sanitation in Conflict," which we organized with World Vision, UNICEF, and UNHCR on World Toilet Day, revealed little-known aspects of a humanitarian crisis that is spreading and that, in many cases, we tend to forget.

In addition to the broad panel of scientific information, mitigation actions, and adaptation strategies to the climate crisis, the parties meeting in Sharm El Sheik must reach a fundamental agreement: how to calculate the loss and damage of global warming and how to finance it fairly. The Foundation is involved in two debates: decarbonization and its link to water and economic activity and establishing innovative cooperation strategies, two key issues in achieving any goal.

Scientific evidence of climate change is not enough. We need a social transformation that takes us from concern to awareness and from there to action. We must turn climate challenges into a value of social belonging in which each of us can act meaningfully.

The world’s youngest country is experiencing its worst humanitarian crisis. Plagued by droughts, recurring floods, and unending war violence, South Sudan is a lacerating example of neglect, ineffective governance, and climate injustice, three scourges that often coincide.

In a new project in Malawi, we address menstrual hygiene and education in schools as a comprehensive and irreplaceable element of any approach to access to water and sanitation. Beyond clean water and safe latrines, school children need dedicated facilities, access to supplies, teacher training, and cultural changes among the children, their parents, and the rest of the community. Only then can we talk about complete sanitation.