You can find lakes all over the world, usually freshwater, sometimes alkaline or salty, some of them spanning thousands of square kilometers, others no larger than a few football fields. They are cradles for diverse life forms and human civilizations, but have been badly affected by a combination of over abstraction, pollution and climate change. That's why Member States passed and are keen to see the United Nations Environment Assembly resolution on Sustainable Lake Management of March 2022 implemented as quickly and as fully as possible.

Protecting and restoring lakes and other freshwater ecosystems also form a key area of action for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, including the newly launched Freshwater Challenge.