UN NATIONS: The United Nations opened its first conference on water security in almost half a century on Wednesday, with a plea to governments to manage one of humanity's shared resources.
Half of the world's population relies on unsafe drinking water, while half lacks basic sanitation, according to the UN. Nearly three quarters of the recent disasters have been related to water.
The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said we are draining humanity's lifeblood through vampiric overconsumption and unsustainable use, and evaporating it through global heating.
Access to clean drinking water and sanitation is part of the 17 point to-do list the UN has set for sustainable development, alongside ending hunger and poverty, achieving gender equality, and taking action on climate change.
The three-day conference beginning in New York is not intended to produce the kind of binding accord that emerged from Paris in 2015, or on nature protection in Montreal in 2022. Guterres said governments needed plans to ensure equitable water access for all people while conserving this precious resource, and work with their neighbours to manage it, because it must result in a bold Water Action Agenda that gives our planet's lifeblood the commitment it deserves.
The United States is committed to invest $49 billion in climate-resilient, water and sanitation investments at home and around the world, said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the UN.
She said that this money would help create jobs, prevent conflicts, protect public health, reduce the risk of famine and hunger, and enable us to respond to climate change and natural disasters, and not give a timeline for the investments or details on how much money would be spent.
Scientists, economists, and policy experts grouped together by the government of the Netherlands in the Global Commission on the Economics of Water have recommended that phasing out some US $700 billion in agricultural and water subsidies it says are environmentally damaging.
It supports partnerships between development finance institutions and private investors to improve water systems.