Nearly half of the world’s population could suffer severe water stress by 2030, a development that is likely to damage the well-being of millions of people, unless current levels of water consumption and pollution are altered, the International Resource Panel (IRP) says in a new report.
The report, entitled Policy Options for Decoupling Economic Growth from Water Use and Water Pollution, finds that as the global population rises, increased urbanization, climate change and a shift in how food is consumed are likely to dramatically increase future demand for water.
Under current trends, demand for water will exceed supply by 40 per cent in 2030, forcing governments to spend $200 billion per year on upstream water supply as demand outstrips cheaper forms of supply – up from historic averages of $40 to $45 billion, the report says.
“When clean water is consistently unavailable, the world’s poorest must spend much of their disposable income buying it, or a large amount of time transporting it, which limits development,” said Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), commenting on the report. “And since only half of one per cent of the world’s freshwater is available for the needs of both humanity and ecosystems, we will need to do more and better with less if we are to ensure healthy ecosystems, healthy populations and economic development.”
The UNEP-hosted IRP – a consortium of 27 internationally renowned scientists, 33 national governments and other groups – says that in sub-Saharan Africa, a region struggling to cope with the impacts of climate change and poverty, water demand is expected to rise by 283 per cent over 2005 levels by 2030.
If the world is to stave off the looming crisis, then efforts to decouple water use from economic growth will need to be strengthened, the report says. The most cost-effective way of achieving water decoupling, according to the report, is for governments to create holistic water management plans that take into account the entire water cycle — from source to distribution, economic use, treatment, recycling, reuse and return to the environment, adoring to the report.
The report is available at: http://www.unep.org/resourcepanel/KnowledgeResources/AssessmentAreasReports/Water/tabid/133332/Default.aspx
