Toward a world of thirst?

The terms of the equation remain simple: for the next few decades, given the volume of available water, and under the present circumstances, will it be possible to provide enough water to a population forecast to be at least 9 billion by 2050 (according to the medium hypothesis proposed by the United Nations) using a volume which will be roughly the same as it is now?

In the context of stress and scarcity, the challenge will be to find creative ways to manage water resources without emphasizing already existing disputes and conflicts. This is raising important questions: is it reasonable to envisage more long distance water transfer without threatening water reserves and harming environmental balance? Which are the countries and regions that will suffer the most due to lack of water? And in which countries will an important part of the population still have to wait for decades before being supplied with improved water?

This 2008 update of the ‘Vital Water Graphics’ is aimed at giving an overview of the state of water resources in the world and providing answers to these important questions.

· About this report

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has taken a lead position over the last 30 years, in assessing and monitoring the state of global (...)

· Executive summary

Published 16 years after the Rio Summit of 1992, Vital Water Graphics focuses on the critical issues vital to the quality of life on earth - (...)

· Water and population

Initial discussions in this chapter on population may look strange, raising the question: what has the evolution of the world’s population got to (...)

· State of the world’s water

This chapter addresses a few preconceived ideas on the availability and use of water worldwide. There is no ‘creation’ of ‘new’ water on the planet. (...)

· Freshwater resources

Over the past decade, efforts based on Agenda 21’s freshwater management guidelines in Chapter 18, which address the protection of the quality and (...)

· Coastal and marine water

Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 stresses the need for the protection of the oceans, all kinds of seas, (including enclosed and semi-enclosed seas) and (...)

· Water and climate change

The accelerating changes in our global climate will undoubtedly cause major changes in the patterns of water cycle and geographical distribution, (...)

http://www.unep.org/dewa/vitalwater/