Report outlines water scarcity challenges; impact of climate change on availability

A global water crisis is looming, and water scarce and tourism-dependent countries like Barbados are being encouraged to employ climate mitigation and water storage measures.
With water demand projected to increase by about 80 per cent through to 2050, officials are concerned that access to, and management of clean water will continue to come under stress and they are also calling for deepening of partnerships and cooperation to address the problem.
This was highlighted on Wednesday as a 2023 United Nations World Water Development Report was released at the start of the UN World Water Day conference, the first in 46 years.
During the conference, officials will be aiming to set goals to accelerate improvement to the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all – UN Sustainable Development Goal number six.
Editor-in-Chief of the UN World Water Development Report Richard Conner said “As a result of climate change seasonal water scarcity will increase in both regions where water is currently abundant, and it is going to worsen in regions where water is in short supply.”
He said water scarcity in the Caribbean has more to do with “salt water intrusion”, drought and climatic events.
However, he said, “I think the biggest problem that you are likely to face due to climate change is increasing variability. That is, increasing intensity of storms and prolonged droughts especially during the periods where ironically your tourist industry benefits from this steady, stable, dry weather. But that is also when your water demands increase the most.
“So you need to look at increasing storage so that you have storage for these periods and you don’t have a million different ways to do it . . . Another important aspect is to protect and maximise the use of your aquifers. Once they are polluted or [there is] saltwater intrusion, there is not much you can do to remedy the situation,” he warned.
Conner said nearly all countries globally showed risks related to water quality and pollution in low-income countries was most often related to low levels of wastewater treatment.
“About 80 per cent of the world’s wastewater is released in the environment without any treatment, and in developing countries it is as high as 99 per cent,” he said.
The report said that water use has been increasing globally by roughly one per cent per year over the last 40 years and is expected to grow at a similar rate through to 2050, which officials said was being driven by a combination of population growth, socio-economic development and changing consumption patterns.
“The bulk of this increase is concentrated in middle and lower-income countries, particularly in emerging economies,” said the report.
It noted that figures from 2020 suggested that about 26 per cent of the world’s population or about two billion people, did not have access to safely managed drinking water services and that an estimated 46 per cent of the world’s population or 3.6 billion people lacked access to safely managed sanitation.
“The current inadequate rate of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal Six target highlights the need to explore opportunities through partnerships and cooperation,” it said.
“Cooperation improves water governance and decision-making, stimulates innovative solutions and leverages efficiencies. By promoting inclusive engagement, participation and dialogue, and giving voice to those that are otherwise not heard, partnerships can help ensure that no one is left behind and that the human rights to water and sanitation are realised,” the report said.
Conner said a rough estimate of the cost of meeting the SDG goal “is somewhere between US$600 billion and $1 trillion per year”, adding that partnerships provided an opportunity to pool resources and share risks.
“So it improves the business case for investors and financiers,” said Conner, adding that donors and financiers also had the opportunity to partner to share risks.
Declaring that the world is currently “off track” when it comes to the UN goal, Conner said cooperation between cities and the communities that surround them will be absolutely essential to meeting the water needs of both.
“This cooperation involves accommodation of market, administrative and especially participatory mechanisms,” said Conner, adding that biogas recovery from wastewater treatment systems and wetland protection were critical to climate change mitigation measures which can impact water quality and supply.
The report said that education and capacity development, data and information, innovation, financing and governance were crucial to accelerate the development, adoption and institutionalisation of more sustainable and equitable water management practices.
(MM)