“The health of rivers, the health of the world”: pollution was at the heart of dialogue at IFGR’s 5th session

The source of life and the lifeblood of our civilisations, water is a resource we must know how to preserve and share. A victim of climate change, it is also affected by pollution which involves rivers and oceans. 80% of ocean pollution is carried from the land by rivers and runoff, resulting in the discharge of 50 kilos of plastic into the sea every second.

Preventing and combating seawater pollution starts with our rivers. Aware of the challenge for water quality and public health, Initiatives for the Future of Great Rivers (IFGR) devoted its 5^th session to this issue. It was held from 9 to 13 October 2017 at Lyon and Annecy (France). The objectives were to better understand and analyse pollution phenomena and current responses, in order to then assist the development of innovative solutions capable of better managing the effects of river pollution and reducing its risks.

These works were relayed to the COP23 in Bonn in November, during a conference at the French Pavilion France, then to the One Planet Summit at Paris in the form of a plea  published in the French daily financial newspaper LES ECHOS on 8 December.