1. “生命之水”一词经常出现在与水有关的发言中。要回答为什么水对人类和社会及人类所居住的环境十分重要的问题，这是根本。将水作为一个政治问题予以重视可追溯到 1977 年通过的《马德普拉塔行动计划》，然后是 1981 年至 1990年国际饮供水和卫生十年。11992 年，在联合国环境与发展会议上，世界各国领导人在《21世纪议程》中(环发会议主要成果文件)专门以一个章节阐述了水问题，包括将淡水资源确定为地球水圈的一个基本组成部分和整个地球生态系统不可缺少的一部分。2 水的作用，包括它的跨领域性质日益得到宣传和决策圈的支持，同时，为落实《21 世纪议程》第 18 章的内容，可持续发展委员会也做出了重要的决定。
1. The phrase “Water is life” is commonly used in speeches on water. It is the foundation of the response to the question why water is important to humans and the society and the environment in which they reside. Focus on water as a political issue can be traced back to the Mar de la Plata Action Plan, adopted in 1977,1 followed by the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, covering the period from 1981 to 1990. In 1992, at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, world leaders dedicated an entire chapter to water in Agenda 21,2 the main outcome document of the Conference, including identification of freshwater resources as an essential component of the Earth’s hydrosphere and as an indispensable part of all terrestrial ecosystems. Increasingly, the role of water including its cross-cutting nature garnered support in both the advocacy and policymaking spheres, while important decisions in follow-up to chapter 18 of Agenda 21 were also made within the context of the Commission on Sustainable Development