The world is facing irreversible ‘water bankruptcy’, with billions of people at risk of no longer having enough water to meet their basic needs, according to a UN report published on Tuesday. Researchers at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health say that many societies are living beyond their hydrological means, with freshwater reserves depleted or degraded due to decades of overexploitation and reduced supplies from sources such as aquifers, lakes, rivers, glaciers and wetlands.
The report warns that water resources are in a ‘post-crisis state of failure’: unsustainable withdrawals have depleted natural ‘water reserves’ and water quality has deteriorated due to pollution. In large areas, water has become an increasingly scarce resource.
The severity of water scarcity
According to the report, nearly three-quarters of the world’s population live in countries classified as “water insecure” or “critically insecure”, and around 4 billion people deal with water scarcity for at least one month of the year.
A particularly significant figure concerns agricultural land: more than 170 million hectares of irrigated land — an area larger than the whole of Iran — are now under high or very high water stress. The report estimates that the economic damage linked to land degradation, groundwater depletion and the effects of climate change exceeds £300 billion per year globally.
In many parts of the world, 3 billion people and more than half of global food production depend on areas where water supplies are unstable or declining, the report points out. In addition, salinisation has already degraded more than 100 million hectares of arable land.
Beyond the crisis: towards a new global agenda
Researchers indicate that the current approach to water resource management is no longer adequate. The traditional model — based on small improvements in efficiency or the provision of drinking water and sanitation services — is no longer sufficient. The report calls for moving beyond the “return to normal” mindset and adopting a “new global water agenda” capable of reducing damage and addressing water stress in a systemic way.
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