UNITED NATIONS, Mar 18 (APP):The President of UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan, put a spotlight on the global water crisis, saying Thursday that by 2050 more than half of the world’s population will be at risk due to water stress, and he called for a multilateral response to deal with the challenge.
“Desertification alone threatens the livelihoods of nearly one billion people in about 100 countries,” he told a high-level meeting on water, presided over by the General Assembly President, Volcan Bozkir of Turkey.
“Intense water scarcity may displace as many as 700 million people by 2030,” Ambassador Akram pointed out, while expressing his “serious concern” over the impending crisis.
The critical importance of water, he said, has been highlighted further by the coronavirus pandemic. Access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and hygiene had provided protection during the pandemic, particularly so in developing countries, and would remain critical until the vaccine became available to all.
In this regard, Ambassador Akram emphasized the need for fully implementing the duly recognized right of all to safe drinking water.
Over the last 20 years, he said the overwhelming majority of disasters, almost 90%, have been weather-related events.
Noting that 40% of the world’s population lives within shared river basins, the ECOSOC chief said without effective trans boundary water cooperation, the potential for threats to peace and security were ever present.
“Water and climate are tied through the hydrological cycle,” he said, adding, “Climate change and associated changes in the hydrological cycle will lead to biodiversity loss.”
Ambassador Akram said achievement of the water-related goals and targets was essential to the successful implementation of a number of development agreements, including the Paris Climate Agreement, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
“Lack of investment in water infrastructure leads to significant, economic, social and environmental losses,” he told the meeting.
Citing the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the ECOSOC chief said the total financing needed between 2016 and 2030 for transition to a water-secure world could require additional annual investments of US$500 billion. Global estimates for financing this water transformation range from $6.7 trillion by 2030 to $22.6 trillion by 2050.
Investments were needed not only to build new infrastructure but also to maintain and operate existing facilities, the Pakistani envoy said, warning that failure to improve water resource management could diminish national growth rates by as much as 6 percent of by 2050
Emphasizing the need for exploring new approaches for investment in environmentally sustainable water and sanitation-related infrastructure, Ambassador Akram said a infrastructure investment facility set up as a public-private partnership under at the UN auspices to assist countries in developing and offering marketable projects for investors could help bridge the current disconnect between potential investors and investment opportunities in the developing countries.
“Cooperation at all levels is required for a holistic, systemic and multilateral response to confront and overcome these challenges,” he said.
Only by working together and a strong common commitment, the ECOSOC chief said, the implementation of SDGs and water-related goals and targets can be achieved.