‘For much of the world, “normal” is gone.’
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This is what Prof Kaveh Madani, director of the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, said to journalists in New York after publishing a report declaring that the world had entered an era of ‘global water bankruptcy’.
‘This is not to kill hope but to encourage action and an honest admission of failure today to protect and enable tomorrow,’ Madani said.
Seventy-five percent of people live in countries classified as water-insecure or critically water-insecure and 2 billion people live on ground that is sinking as groundwater aquifers collapse, while some the most visible signs of water bankruptcy are the 700 sinkholes peppering the heavily farmed Konya plain in Turkey.
Water overuse and pollution must be tackled urgently, the report’s lead author said, because no one knows when the whole system could collapse, with implications for peace and social cohesion.
Water-related conflicts have almost doubled since 2022 alone, while scarcity threatens to force up food prices.
The report, released last month, also points out that the risks are falling disproportionately on smallholder farmers, Indigenous peoples, low-income urban residents and women and young people, while the benefits of overuse often accrue to more powerful individuals.
Find out why we are facing ‘water bankruptcy’ – and what that looks like for the planet – in this video with our environment editor, Damian Carrington.
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