More than 30 countries announced this weekend they had joined the Freshwater Challenge, meaning nations home to around a third of global freshwater resources now have joined the efforts to protect and restore the world’s rivers, lakes, and wetlands.

The announcements were made on Sunday at a ministerial roundtable at the ongoing COP28 in Dubai.

“People may be wondering why we’re talking about freshwater at a climate conference. But healthy and productive rivers, lakes, wetlands, and peatlands are critical carbon stores that lessen the impacts of climate change-related extreme weather events,” Elizabeth Hendriks, vice president for restoration and regeneration at WWF-Canada, said in a press release.

“Freshwater ecosystems are currently the most degraded worldwide, and we must invest in their restoration.”

The initiative was launched in March this year by Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Gabon, Mexico, and Zambia with the aim to commit 300,000 km of degraded rivers and 350 million hectares of degraded wetlands to restoration and conservation by 2030.

New participants in the initiative include Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Chad, Chile, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, France, Finland, Germany, Iraq, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, Niger, Norway, Peru, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Slovenia, Spain, Tajikistan, Tanzania, UAE, Uganda, the UK, and the US.

It has been estimated that since 1970, as much as 84% of freshwater wildlife populations have disappeared, on average, making rivers and lakes the most degraded ecosystems on the planet.

At the same time, the UN said close to $190 million in funding for initiatives for forests, mangroves, and oceans were announced at the COP venue in Dubai Saturday at what was designated ‘Nature Day’ at the talks.

That came on top of $2.5 billion in announced pledges to protect and restore nature made at the Dec. 2 World Climate Action Summit.

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