Global levels of fresh water resources per capita declined by 1,6 percent between 2001 and 2002 due to growing populations pressure on water resources, according to the World Banks Little Green Data Book 2004, launched Thursday at the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-12).
The decline, which is the result of demographic increase, is even more dramatic in water scarce regions such as the Middle East and North Africa where growing populations decreased fresh water resources per capita by 2,5 percent.
At current levels of population growth, countries like Egypt – in which the agricultural sector uses 80 percent of its freshwater resources – could cross the 1.000 cubic meters per person water scarcity threshold in just 2 years time.
James Warren Evans, Acting Director of the World Banks Environment Department warns: – In the short term, population growth will continue to be the main pressure on scarce water resources. In the long run, climate change may exacerbate the problems causing irreversible impacts, especially in arid and semi-arid zones.
The Little Green Data Book 2004 makes key indicators widely available to a global audience.
Low-income countries are becoming more urban
The Little Green Data Book reveals that between 2001-2002, the worlds urban population increased by nearly one-half a percent of total population – that is roughly 24 million people. This growth occurred largely in the East Asia and Pacific region, where growth was closer to one percent.
Among developing countries, urbanization is greatest in Latin America, where the urban population accounts for 76 percent of the total. This is comparable to high-income countries where the urban population accounts for 78 percent of the population.
Sub-Saharan Africa, while largely rural (with only 32 percent of the population living in urban areas), is experiencing very high urban population growth rates around 4 percent. This will place unprecedented pressures on water and sanitation infrastructure and may cause an exponential growth of poverty pockets in cities.
Shrinking forests …
Of the worlds 1,2 billion extremely poor people, 90 percent rely on forests for their livelihood. Forests contribute to supporting the natural systems that prevent land degradation, and preserve water resources. They are central to economic growth in many countries, but in most countries they are shrinking. The report finds that over the last decade, 94 million hectares were lost, largely in Latin America and Africa.
…and threatened biodiversity.
As forests disappear, so too does the diversity of the plants and animals they support. Many countries have a goal of protecting ten percent of their land area, although, as shown in the Little Green Data Book, many countries are far from reaching this goal.
But even where areas have been officially named as “protected”, this is not a guarantee of their actual protection, as resources are needed for maintenance purposes. The Data Book provides figures on the number of mammals and birds threatened in each country.
Environmental health
Children are particularly susceptible to environmental health risks. While it is estimated that 28.000 children under five die every day – mostly in developing countries and mostly from preventable causes – progress in improving childrens health has been made over the past decade.
Significant improvements were seen in all regions except in Sub-Saharan Africa where only modest reductions in under-five mortality rates were seen (from 178 to 171 per 1.000 live births). Investments in access to safe water and adequate sanitation, which is linked to diarrheal disease in children, has contributed to this reduction in under-five mortality.
Globally, the percentage of the population with access to safe water increased from 74 to 81 percent over the decade. The lowest coverage rates, with only slight improvements seen over the past decade, were in Sub-Saharan Africa.
However, despite the modest progress in Sub-Saharan Africa, there were some success stories. For example, for those countries where data are available, Tanzania is recorded to have made the most progress during the 1990s – increasing access to safe water from 38 percent of the population to 68 percent.
While this is still below the average in other regions, it is a significant improvement over the past decade.
Adjusted net savings – an indicator of sustainability
Adjusted net savings is a sustainability indicator developed by the World Bank that builds on the concept of green national accounts. It measures the true rate of savings in an economy after taking into account investments in human capital, depletion of natural resources, and damage caused by pollution.
A negative savings rate implies that welfare is expected to decline in the future as a result of decisions made today. Many low- and middle-income countries have low or negative adjusted net savings.
On aggregate, the Middle East and Africa are on unsustainable paths as both their savings rates are negative. In addition, both Europe and Central Asia and Latin America have low savings rates.
Net savings rates declined globally from 2001 to 2002. However, in Sub-Saharan Africa, improved economic growth was matched by modest increases in savings – adjusted net savings increased from minus 1,3 percent of Gross National Income to 0 percent.
For more information, please see the website:
www.worldbank.org/sustainabledevelopment
