World Water Forum meets to tackle water crisis

The world is wasting water according to the United Nations. More than 80 per cent of used water is not collected or treated; it’s worrying facts like these that will be presented to around 35,000 people from 180 countries at the World Water Forum this week, a gathering held every three years.

Demand for water is expected to increase by 55 per cent over the next four decades, according to a new study. This will leave 40 per cent of the world's population, including parts of Europe, living with severe "water-stress".

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is calling for "urgent reform" of water management and suggests using economic instruments, such as taxation, tariffs and transfers, to encourage greater "water efficiency".

United Nations Water Assessment co-ordinator Olcay Unver said water management has to be treated as a global issue. He points to water being not only what we drink or wash with, but “something embedded in the products that we eat, consume and use”. Ultimately, he said, “one nation, or one corporation, can have an impact on water shortages somewhere else.”

Source: The Independent