Article from waterbriefing

The warning comes in a new landmark report from the Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW). The independent Commission, which comprises an independent and diverse group of experts from the fields of science, economics and policy-making, was established in May 2022 at the initiative of the Government of the Netherlands as co-host of the UN 2023 Water Conference.

According to the Commission, the unprecedented floods, droughts, and other extreme water events of the last year are not freak episodes but evidence of a systemic crisis that results from decades-long human mismanagement of water.

The report – Turning the Tide: A Call to Collective Action – states:

“We are seeing the consequences not of freak events, nor of population growth and economic development, but of our mismanagement of water globally for decades.

“We have changed rainfall patterns and failed to preserve freshwater ecosystems, to manage demand to avoid overuse, to prevent contamination, to foster recycling and to develop and share water-saving technologies.

“We now face the prospect of a 40% shortfall in freshwater supply by 2030, with severe shortages in water-constrained regions.”

A sustainable and just water future can be achieved, it says, but this will require transforming the economics and restructuring the governance of water.

Read more here and download the full report.