One Month to Go Before INBO’s World Basin Summit in Rio de Janeiro (Press Release)

Ministers, scientists and water management stakeholders from all over the world to gather in Brazil, in June 2026, to discuss challenges and solutions as climate pressure on river basins intensifies.

In one month, Rio de Janeiro will host one of the world’s leading international events dedicated to water governance and climate resilience: the 2026 World Basin Summit, organized by the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO), from 16 to 19 June 2026, at the invitation of the Rio de Janeiro’s State Secretariat of Environment and Sustainability.

At a time when climate change is accelerating floods, droughts and water-related tensions across all continents, the World Basin Summit will bring together leading international voices to discuss how river basin governance can help societies adapt to growing environmental, social and economic pressures.

Participants from 75 countries are expected in Rio de Janeiro, including ministers, basin organizations, public authorities, scientists, regulators, development banks, UN agencies and technical institutions. High-level participants will notably include ministers and senior representatives from Brazil, Morocco, Spain, Finland, Ghana, Chad and Senegal, alongside leaders of major international river basin organizations from Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia.

Formerly known as the INBO World General Assembly, the Summit has become a major international platform for advancing Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at basin scale ; increasingly recognized as one of the most effective approaches for strengthening water security and climate adaptation.

Over four days, the World Basin Summit will focus on five strategic themes shaping the future of water governance worldwide:

• modernizing water monitoring systems and transforming data into operational decision-making tools;
• reconciling urban development, rural territories and water security through “city-basin dialogue”;
• aligning water and biodiversity policies to restore ecosystem resilience;
• adapting river basins to climate extremes such as floods and droughts;
• and accelerating the transition toward a circular water economy and non-conventional water resources.

The discussions will address highly concrete questions already affecting territories worldwide: climate disruption is making historical hydrological patterns increasingly unreliable, forcing basin organizations to rethink monitoring systems, infrastructure and governance models.

Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in the Summit’s four official languages: French, English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.

The Summit is organized by INBO and the Rio de Janeiro’s State Secretariat of Environment and Sustainability, with the support of:

• the Brazilian National Water and Sanitation Agency (ANA),
• the Rio de Janeiro State Energy and Sanitation Regulatory Agency (AGENERSA),
• the Fluminense Forum of River Basin Committees (FFCBH),
• the Brazilian Network of Basin Organisations (REBOB),
• the Association for the Management of Water Resources in the Paraíba do Sul River Basin (AGEVAP),
• Águas do Rio,
• the Brazilian Association of Regulatory Agencies (ABAR),
• Museu do Amanhã,
• and Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR).