Humanity’s survival depends on how people manage water, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday. While nations made urgent calls for help with cleaner drinking water and better sanitation at the end of a three-day conference on global water resources.
“All of humanity’s hopes for the future depend, in some way, on charting a new course to sustainably manage and conserve water,” Guterres said in his closing remarks.
This includes rational use of water for agriculture and more aggressive action against climate change, he said. And water “needs to be at the center of the global political agenda.”
The U.N. World Water Development Report, issued on the eve of the conference, says 26% of the world’s population — 2 billion people — don’t have access to safe drinking water. 46% — 3.6 billion people — lack access to basic sanitation.
U.N. research also shows that almost half the world’s people will suffer severe water stress by 2030.
Between 2 and 3 billion people experience water shortages for at least one month per year
The growing incidence of extreme and prolonged droughts is also stressing ecosystems
Overconsumption and climate change have led to severe water shortages around the world.
A United Nations report has warned of a looming global water crisis. An “imminent risk” of shortages due to overconsumption and climate change.
“We are draining humanity’s lifeblood through vampiric overconsumption and unsustainable use, and evaporating it through global heating,” Mr. Guterres said.
Urban populations are at particular risk from water shortages, the U.N. said
The global urban population facing water scarcity is projected to potentially double to between 1.7 billion and 2.4 billion people in 2050.
The conference included many verbal pledges to improve water supplies. But fewer detailed commitments translating ambition into improved daily life for ordinary people.
“We have such beautiful, ambitious policies, but in a way they are unfeasible,” said Lina Taing, senior researcher at the global think tank United Nations University.