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Taking
stock to better move ahead
Nearly ten
years have passed since the Rio Earth Summit of 1992 alerted the world to the importance
of “water” on the international development agenda. Since then, assessments of global
water resources indicate that water scarcity will increase dramatically during the
next decades, with a disproportionate effect on developing countries. Demand is growing,
and with it, competition among different users. Unless we change the way we think
about and manage our water resources, both people and planet could suffer irreparable
damage. Already, the lives and well-being of millions of people are constrained by
water.
The World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)—established in 2000 and endorsed by 23
United Nations agencies with a stake in water—is part of the global effort to seek
integrated approaches and sustainable solutions to human development problems. Hosted
at Unesco, it responds to concerns expressed by the international community at the
World Water Forum in The Hague (2000), and builds on the challenges identified in
the Ministerial Declaration that followed.
A key component of the project will include the World Water Development Report, which
will not only assess the state of the world’s water resources but monitor the progress
in meeting its growing demand. The first edition of the report will be published
in 2003.
Within the WWAP framework, a project has recently been launched to help dispel the
myth that increasing water stress will inevitably lead to international conflicts
or potential “flashpoints,” namely along the world’s
261 international river basins “shared” by 145 countries. Although water offers potential
for conflict, it also provides a powerful tool for cooperation. Hence the title of
the new PPCP project: From Potential Conflict to Cooperation Potential. A series
of studies, publications and educational activities will focus on the social, cultural,
scientific and political complexities involved in transboundary water resources.
http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap
Links to all UN partner agencies are found under “partners” on the WWAP home page.
A brochure about the Programme and the World Water Development Report is also available
on-line in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese.
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A thirsty
world
The
population is not only growing but using more water, even though the world’s total
supply remains the same. This scarcity could put a major brake on the world’s development
this century
If
states substantially invest in water-related infrastructure and management policies,
we can expect the projections presented below.
Yet despite these efforts, many countries will still face “physical water scarcity
in 2025:” their water needs will outstrip supplies no matter what measures are taken.
Others will be faced with “economic water scarcity:” they will lack the financial
and institutional capacity required to increase their water supplies by 25 percent. |
Projected water scarcity in 2025. |
Dynamics of water use by sector in km3. |
Since
1900, world population has doubled yet the amount of fresh water used has increased
more than six-fold. Agriculture is by far the largest consumer of water, mostly because
of the spread of irrigation. Two-thirds of all the water consumed in the world goes
to farming, a share expected to shrink only slightly by 2025. More efficient irrigation
techniques are clearly the first and crucial step to reducing water use. |
Global water availability per person in million m3. |
Today,
there is about 6,800 m3 of water available per person on a yearly basis. If current
trends continue, only 4,800 m3 will be available in 2025. This is an optimistic calculation
because it is based upon estimates of all the water flowing in rivers after evaporation
and infiltration into the ground. It does not take into account the minimum required
to maintain river ecosystems, for example. Nor does it reflect the difficulty in
accessing all of this water or its extremely unequal distribution. |
Global annual renewable water supply per person in 1995 and projections for 2025
in m3. |
When
per capita water supply is less than 1,700 m3 per year, an area suffers from “water
stress” and is subject to frequent water shortages. In many of these areas today,
water supply is actually less than 1,000 m3 per capita which causes serious problems
for food production and economic development. Today, 2.3 billion people live in water-stressed
areas. If current trends continue, water stress will affect 3.5 billion—or 48 percent
of the world’s projected population—in 2025. |
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