The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security - Unu-inweh ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

1.3 Water and Enviromental Security: Supporting Ecosystems and People Tony Maas Freshwater Programme Director, World Wildlife Fund Canada, Canada
Introduction Water, economic and environmental security are inherently interconnected. Human life is intimately linked to, and utterly dependant on, the functions and services provided by freshwater ecosystems. Safe, reliable water supplies, flood protection, commercial and subsistence fisheries, cultural and spiritual values – the very foundations of economic development and human well-being – all depend on maintaining the integrity of the planet’s aquatic ecosystems. Yet there is a paradox in this interconnectedness. The current pace and scale of human development is altering the hydrological cycle in ways that has eroded the capacity of ecosystems to provide life-sustaining functions and services. Rivers that for centuries ran from source to sea now run dry in many years due to damming, diversion and depletion of water resources. In many areas, groundwater extraction is occurring at rates that exceed replenishment. In the face of rising water demands for energy, agricultural, industrial and social development, securing sufficient water to sustain the life-supporting functions and services of the world’s rivers, lakes and wetlands is among the most significant challenges of the 21 st century. 1. Water and Environment in the Anthropocene In 2011, the world’s population reached 7 billion people. Global economic output in 2010 was estimated at approximately US $63 trillion per year (World Bank, 2012). This scale of development is directly linked to humans’ increasing hydrological ingenuity – the ability to manage and manipulate freshwater resources and ecosystems to meet society’s needs and desires for food and fibre, energy, and urban growth and industrialization. In 1950, there were 500 large dams on the planet; today, there are over 45,000. This translates to an average of two large dams constructed every day for half a century (Postel, 2010). What’s more, the amount of water impounded behind dams and other structures has quadrupled since 1960. In the same period, withdrawals of water from surface water sources have doubled (Waughray, 2011). Globally, approximately 3,800 km 3 of fresh water is extracted from aquatic ecosystems per year (Boelee, 2011); that is enough water to keep the Nile River flowing for approximately 43 years. More than half of this water is not returned to the watersheds from which it was withdrawn; it is either diverted elsewhere via canals and pipelines, or lost to evaporation (Balmford et al., 2008). Reflecting on this massive transformation and re-engineering of the planet’s aquatic environment, Meybeck (2003) claimed that the global freshwater cycle has entered the Anthropocene 1 . Indeed, humans are now the dominant force driving the earth’s hydrological cycle, altering global-scale river flow and hydrological processes including the patterns, intensity and timing of precipitation and evaporation (Rockstrom et al., 2009). Nearly 60% of the world’s major watercourses have been dammed (UNEP, 2010). When combined with massive and growing withdrawals from surface and groundwater sources, the impacts are striking. It is estimated that 25% of the world’s river basins run dry before reaching the oceans (Molden et al., 2007). Globally, freshwater biodiversity has declined 35% since 1970, a greater rate of decline than observed in terrestrial or marine ecosystems (WWF, 2010). 2. Water Scarcity and Ecosystems: Crisis and Competition These global trends are the product of myriad local and regional water crises. Increasingly, communities, industry and agriculture are seen to be in competition with nature for finite water supplies. The shrinking Aral Sea in Central Asia is one of the best recognized examples of this crisis and competition. Once the world’s fourth largest inland body of water, the Aral Sea has lost 80% of its water since the rivers that feed it, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, were diverted to provide irrigation water for a burgeoning cotton industry. Where there was once a thriving, productive ecosystem that supported prosperous fishing livelihoods, there is now a parched inland seabed dotted with rotting and rusting ships. The Colorado River provides a similar cautionary tale. Over-abstraction of water resources and a vast system of dams and diversion infrastructure have radically reduced and altered natural river flows. What was once one of the world’s great desert river deltas has shrunk from nearly 1.5 million to 150,000 acres, and biological productivity, including a once flourishing fishery, is currently estimated at one-fifteenth of its former capacity (UNEP, 2010). 1 The Anthropocene is a proposed new geological epoch marked by the moment at which humans became the dominant driver of change to Earth’s system (Steffen et al., 2007). Water and Enviromental Security: Supporting Ecosystems and People Part 1 27
Page 1: The Global Water Crisis: Addressing
Page 4 and 5: About the InterAction Council Estab
Page 6 and 7: Acknowledgements
Page 8: Foreword
Page 11 and 12: The undeniable seriousness of the g
Page 13: Foreword xiii
Page 16 and 17: The Global Water Crisis: Framing th
Page 18 and 19: Ethical considerations also need to
Page 20 and 21: 3. Support Ratification of the UN W
Page 23 and 24: 1 Water and Global Security
Page 25 and 26: Introduction Since the serious stat
Page 27 and 28: Jury and Vaux project that the numb
Page 29 and 30: 5. The Potential for Conflict and t
Page 31 and 32: References Cullen, H., 2010. The We
Page 33 and 34: Introduction Water is an integral p
Page 35 and 36: shortage Statewide Regional Local N
Page 37 and 38: summer months. To alleviate the con
Page 39: References Department of Energy, 20
Page 43 and 44: Economic analyses of ecosystem good
Page 45 and 46: • Managing for sustainability. De
Page 47 and 48: Richter, B.D., M.M. Davis, C. Apse
Page 49 and 50: Introduction Water is an essential
Page 51 and 52: early post-Cold War period, from a
Page 53 and 54: 2.4. Water, conflicts, and institut
Page 55 and 56: Renaud et al. (2011) proposed a pre
Page 57 and 58: Carius, A., D. Tänzler and A. Maas
Page 59 and 60: Turton, A.R., 2004. “The Evolutio
Page 61 and 62: Introduction In the West Asia and N
Page 63 and 64: 2. Water in the WANA Region 2.1. De
Page 65 and 66: Following on this, during a persona
Page 67 and 68: Below are some suggestions for how
Page 69 and 70: plants through evapo-transpiration)
Page 71 and 72: WANA Forum, 2010b. Toward Supra-nat
Page 73 and 74: Introduction “The trouble with wa
Page 75 and 76: • Upgrading current water infrast
Page 77 and 78: 60,000 ventilation improved pit lat
Page 79 and 80: 5. The Bottom Line It is widely ack
Page 81: The Blue Economy: Risks and Opportu
Page 84 and 85: 2.1 A Human Development Approach to
Page 86 and 87: apparatus assists nation-states in
Page 88 and 89: By ensuring that the international
Page 90 and 91:
2.2 Water and Health Security Ganes
Page 92 and 93:
1.1. Human-induced Pollutants Domes
Page 94 and 95:
Table.1. Water pollutants and human
Page 96 and 97:
In many urban and semi-urban areas,
Page 98 and 99:
2.3 Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and
Page 100 and 101:
1. The Impacts of Poor Water, Sanit
Page 102 and 103:
77 64 2015 MDG target Coverage (%)
Page 104 and 105:
3. The Neglect of the WASH Sector a
Page 106 and 107:
References Checkley, W., G. Buckley
Page 108 and 109:
2.4 Water, Food and the Development
Page 110 and 111:
2. Keeping Pace with Change Since t
Page 112 and 113:
one and has yet to attain widesprea
Page 114 and 115:
2.5 Investing in Women’s Particip
Page 116 and 117:
of agriculture resulting mainly fro
Page 118 and 119:
their substantial contribution is p
Page 120 and 121:
Although cultural constraints still
Page 122 and 123:
UNEP, 2009. Water Security and Ecos
Page 124 and 125:
2.6 Water Governance Reform in Afgh
Page 126 and 127:
1.2. The Extreme risk of food secur
Page 128 and 129:
Furthermore, within each basin, lan
Page 130 and 131:
3.2. Early doubts vis-à-vis progre
Page 132 and 133:
transboundary water management conc
Page 135 and 136:
3 Will the Right to Water Alleviate
Page 137 and 138:
Introduction A growing number of ar
Page 139 and 140:
2. Ethical Perspectives on State Ob
Page 141 and 142:
References Barlow, Maude, 2007. Blu
Page 143 and 144:
Introduction It is widely recognize
Page 145 and 146:
Later in 2010, the UN Human Rights
Page 147 and 148:
3.2. Legislative Recognition Dozens
Page 149 and 150:
Mandela, M., 2002. No Water, No Fut
Page 151 and 152:
Introduction South Africans have a
Page 153 and 154:
water per person per day. The appli
Page 155 and 156:
References Bluemel, E. B., 2004.
Page 157 and 158:
Introduction Water conflicts are nu
Page 159 and 160:
4. Water Policies and Their Impact
Page 161 and 162:
y its interconnection to encompass
Page 163 and 164:
Access to Water and Conflict: An In
Page 166 and 167:
Response from the InterAction Counc
Page 168 and 169:
As former U.S. President Mr. Bill C
Page 170 and 171:
The InterAction Council Québec Dec
Page 172:
List of Participants
Page 175 and 176:
List of Participants: 29 th Annual
show all

The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security - Unu-inweh ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?