World Water Day

  Water shortages consistently rank among the global risks of greatest concern to policy-makers and business leaders. In a survey of 525 investors with US$96 trillion in assets, 45% reported exposure to substantive risks from water insecurity – risks that threaten their reputation and license to operate, the security of their water supply chains , their financial stability, and their ability to grow. Among the companies reporting exposure, the combined business value at risk topped out at US$425 billion with about 40% of the risks anticipated to hit within the next 1–3 years. The World Bank estimated that regions affected by water scarcity could see their growth rates decline by as much as 6% of GDP by 2050 as a result of losses in agriculture, health, income and property – sending them into sustained negative growth

  Significant values can be attributed to ecosystem services that relate to supporting resilienceor reducing risks. In 2019, environment-related risks accounted for three of the top five risks by likelihood and four of the top five by impact. Most disaster risks and costs are water-related . The value of nature’s contribution to people outstrips other economic values. One estimate of the notional economic value of nature’s contribution to people was US$125 trillion per year in 2011, around two-thirds higher than global GDP at that time. Only the water-related services provided by nature are valued at US$29 trillion per year (Costanza et al., 2014). The costs of inaction, in terms of ecosystem loss and degradation, are high. As reported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, “between 1997 and 2011, the world lost an estimated US$4–20 trillion per year in ecosystem services owing to land cover change and US$6–11 trillion per year from land degradation. By 20...

  In 2017, 5.3 billion people (71% of the global population) used a safely managed drinking water service – one located on premises, available when needed and free from contamination. 3.4 billion people (or 45% of the global population) used safely managed sanitation services – an improved toilet or latrine that is not shared, from which excreta are safely disposed of in situ or treated off-site. Each year, it is estimated that approximately 829,000 people die from diarrhoea as a result of unsafe drinking water , sanitation and hand hygiene. These causes represent 60% of all deaths due to diarrhoea globally, including nearly 300,000 children under the age of five, 5.3% of all deaths in this age group.  Poor sanitation and hygiene , as well as unsafe drinking water, cause diarrhoeal disease and environmental enteropathy, which inhibit nutrient absorption, resulting in undernutrition. Roughly 50% of all malnutrition is associated with repeated diarrhoea or intestinal worm inf...

  Although global food production has kept pace with population growth, close to 750 million people (or 10% of the global population) were exposed to severe levels of food insecurity in 2019. Unfortunately, this number has increased even further over the course of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impacts worldwide. Rainfed agriculture covers 80% of the world’s cropland and accounts for the major part (60%) of food production. Rainfed agriculture has a global water footprint of5,173 km3 per year . Irrigated agriculture covers about 20% of cultivated lands, yet it accounts for 40% of food production, and has a global water footprint of 2,230 km3 per year. The global water footprint related to crop production in the period 1996–2005 was 7,404 km3 per year, representing 92% of humanity’s water footprint . Despite striking economic growth in the past, there are still 2.1 billion poor people, of whom 767 million people live in extreme poverty. Of all people...

  The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that energy (primary energy and power production) in 2014 was responsible for approximately 10% of total water withdrawals , of which about 3% was consumed. The IEA also estimates that a similar amount (about 10% of global water withdrawals) was used by the other industries. Projected global water demand between 2000 and 2050 shows a 400% increase for manufacturing and a 140% increase for thermal power generation. Another study foresees almost a doubling of industrial water withdrawals to 2030, reaching a percentage of 22% globally. In the last four years, even though the number of companies reporting water reductiontargets to the CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project ) has close to doubled, there is a nearly 50% increase in companies reporting higher water withdrawals with expanding production , particularly in Asia and Latin America. Water-related financial company losses of US$38.5 billion were noted in 2018. These num...