A new push to protect water, our most valuable resource
This dialogue is a welcome step forward. The triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature, biodiversity and land loss, and pollution and waste is disrupting the water cycle, polluting water and making this precious resource ever more scarce.
Nearly three billion people face water scarcity. Over 90 per cent of disasters are water-related, including drought, desertification, fires and floods. UNEP, as the custodian agency reporting and monitoring on three SDG 6 indicators, has found that half of all countries reporting have one or more types of freshwater-related ecosystems in a state of degradation.
Crops and livestock are wasting away in dry spells. Competition between sectors – agriculture, urban supplies and industry – is growing. Cities are slowly sinking as the groundwater is depleted beneath them.
