Water in the Green Economy - Global Water Partnership

Water in the Green EconomyThe Stockholm Statement (2011) described water asthe ‘bloodstream of the green economy’. Yet waterresources are limited in many parts of the world andpressures are increasing as the demand for water forpeople, food, industry and the environment grows. Ifthe world continues to use water at current rates it isestimated that demand could outstrip supply by asmuch as 40% by 2030, putting both water and foodsecurity at risk, constraining sustainable economicdevelopment, and degrading the ‘green infrastructure’on which everything else depends.Momentum is now building to highlight water andits role in the green economy as a priority issue forRio+20. In November 2011, world leaders andprofessionals gathered in Bonn to prepare for Rio+20and they examined water as the common threadconnecting food, energy, and climate change. TheBonn conference highlighted that sustainabledevelopment and growth beyond poverty eradicationcan be achieved by better management of the world’secosystems and a more informed and optimal use ofwater, land, and other natural resources.We argue that water is not just part of the economy;it is embedded within the economy. Without it theeconomy could not function. Thus water will becentral to the innovative thinking and effectivesolutions required to establish the green economy. Inthis paper we set out the case for an Integrated WaterResources Management (IWRM) approach to watersecurity (Box 1) and its potential to lead the processof ‘greening’ the world’s economies.Shocks and challengesTwenty years on from the first Rio Conference in 1992– the world summit that addressed sustainabledevelopment – the world is still facing immensechallenges. Meeting the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) has been clouded by major issues thathave slowed progress. Over the past decade we haveseen increasing globalization, rapid demographicchanges, and the continued presence of hunger andpoverty, particularly in Africa and South Asia, wherethere is little prospect of meeting the MDGs by 2015.The world has also experienced several, and in somecases, unexpected shocks.Box 1: GWP’s vision of a water secureworldA water secure world is vital for a better future: afuture in which there is enough water for social andeconomic development and for ecosystems. A watersecure world integrates a concern for the intrinsicvalue of water together with its full range of uses forhuman survival and well-being. A water secure worldharnesses water's productive power and minimises itsdestructive force. It is a world where every person hasenough safe, affordable water to lead a clean, healthyand productive life. It is a world where communitiesare protected from floods, droughts, landslides,erosion and water-borne diseases. Water security alsomeans addressing environmental protection and thenegative effects of poor management, which willbecome more challenging as climatic variabilityincreases. A water secure world reduces poverty,advances education, and increases living standards. Itis a world where there is an improved quality of lifefor all, especially for the most vulnerable—usuallywomen and children—who benefit most from goodwater governance.Global Water Partnership (GWP) Strategy 2009-2013These include:• the rise in energy prices in 2008 and 2010 andconcerns about energy security;• related food and commodity price rises;• worries about water and food security and how tofeed 9 billion people by 2050;• declining ecosystem services; and• the global economic recession.Climate change adds another level of risk, which maybring the prospect of more extreme and unpredictablefloods and droughts to those parts of the world thatare already struggling to cope with climateuncertainties.All these shocks and challenges impact bothdeveloping and developed countries and they aretesting the optimistic global vision of increasingprosperity and the relevance of the economic growthmodel accepted by industrialized societies. There is agrowing realization that the earth’s resources are3