World Bank message on World Water Day
Posted by Craig Clarke
on Mar 23, 2013
Will Climate Change Dry Up Water Resources?
Without vigorous action on climate change, 43 to 50% of the global population will be living in water-scarce countries by the end of the century.
On World Water Day 2013: 85% of the world’s population lives on the driest half of the land, 783 million people do not have access to clean water, and 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation. The economic and health effects will be exacerbated by climate change and its effect on water ecosystems.
Of the numerous challenges climate change will present to the world’s poorest citizens, its effects felt through water will be some of the most hard-hitting.
The recent report Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C World Must Be Avoided, commissioned by the World Bank, provides a clear picture of the planet in a 4-degree-warmer world and the disruptive impact on agriculture, water resources, ecosystems, and human health. It reveals that between 43 percent and 50 percent of the global population will be living in water-scarce countries by the end of this century. As a consequence, there likely will be increasing aridity and drought in many developing countries.
In the face of this, the theme of this year’s World Water Day on March 22 is the International Year of Water Cooperation. Although water scarcity is often viewed as a source of potential conflict, increasing pressure from a changing climate can also be harnessed to continue a well-established tradition of peaceful cooperation on water issues.
Water at the heart of the adverse effects of climate change
At the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, where a study cited the water supply crises as among the top 5 highest risks by likelihood and impact, World Bank Group President Jim Kim referred to water as “the teeth of climate change.”
Climate change impacts are often experienced as water-related events, such as flooding, drought, or extreme storms. Extreme weather events associated with a changing climate carry both economic and human costs. Economic losses from recent floods in Thailand, Pakistan, and Australia were devastating: in Thailand alone, losses due to flooding in 2011 resulted in losses of approximately $45 billion, or about 13 percent of GDP.
When considering the human costs of climate change, it will be those least able to adapt – the poor and most vulnerable – that will be hit the hardest.
“Looking forward, it is clear that water management practices of the past are no longer adequate. Transformations in behavior, institutions, and policies will be at the center of governments', companies', and our attention,” said Rachel Kyte, the World Bank’s vice president for sustainable development.
Click here to go to full statement on World Bank site.
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