FNs svenske under-generalsekretær peger på dystre spådomme om, at verden vil lide under markant vandmangel allerede i 2030 og at kampen om vandet snarere bør få nationerne til at samarbejde end at gå i krig om de svindende dråber i forhold til folketallet.
NEW YORK, 30 March 2015 (UN News Service): The international community must gear up for a new era of “hydro-diplomacy” as the threat of water scarcity risks plunging the world into a period of geopolitical tension and stunted development, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told delegates gathered at the General Assembly Tuesday.
“Water is one of the highest priorities for development and lives in dignity, as well as a serious factor in maintaining peace and security,” the Deputy Secretary-General said in remarks to open the High-Level Interactive Dialogue on the International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life,’ 2005-2015.
“The lack of water causes individual tragedies,” he continued. “And it also, growingly, constitutes a threat to international peace and security. There is a need for ‘hydro-diplomacy’ – making scarce water a reason for cooperation, rather than a reason for conflict.”
Mr. Eliasson warned that in a period of “intensifying disasters, both man-made and natural,” social and economic stresses related to water supply would increasingly flare up, spawning tensions between communities and nations.
Skyrocketing demand for water
The dire straits facing the world’s water situation was recently amplified in the UN’s 2015 World Water Development report, released in time for last week’s World Water Day.
According to the report, the planet will face a 40 per cent shortfall in water supply in 2030 unless the international community “dramatically” improves water supply management.
Demand for water is slated to skyrocket 55 per cent by 2050 while 20 per cent of global groundwater is already overexploited.
As such, the Deputy Secretary-General called for greater international cooperation based on the growing communal urgency and need for water around the world.
“Shared water sources have historically brought countries closer together. Instead of seeing water-sharing as a problem, we have to treat it as a potential solution, with the help of innovative and dynamic hydro-diplomacy,” he added.
Affects quality of life for millions
Mr. Eliasson’s remarks come as Member States prepare to roll out a post-2015 development agenda (dagsorden 2030, red.) that will focus on sustainability and which may also touch upon issues of issues of water governance and quality to wastewater management and the prevention of natural disasters.
Water consumption, the UN has noted, also directly affects quality of life for millions of people around the world in developing and least developed countries.
On average, nearly 1,000 children die every day from diarrhoeal disease linked to unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, or poor hygiene.
In three countries in particular – the DR Congo, Mozambique and Papua New Guinea – more than half the population does not have improved drinking water.
“The impact of water on human health as well as economic well-being is better understood than a decade ago, including water’s critical importance for households, industries, agriculture, cities, energy production and transportation,” President of the General Assembly, Sam Kutesa, stated in a message to the meeting.
He observed that despite the considerable accomplishments made under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs = 2015 Målene)), some 800 million people continue to live without access to an improved water source while many more remain without a safe and sustainable water supply.
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