For this first day of the third round of 'informal informals' negotiations in New York, we have focused on a core theme within the Rio+20 discussions, that of Water and Oceans. We have a diverse range of insights, from Karin Lexén's (Stockholm International Water Institute) 'Water: The bloodstream of the green economy', giving a clear outline of action required on water at Rio, and Flavia Loures and Stuart Orr's (WWF) article on 'WWF?s freshwater goals and priorities for Rio+20', to Shrikant Daji Limaye's (UNESCO-IUGS-IGCP Project GROWNET) 'In future, we want less talk and more actions at field level'.