Post by account_disabled on Mar 13, 2024 9:22:50 GMT
The challenge of reversing this situation and putting a stop to the errors of the past is possible and viable if we manage to act collectively towards two clear and achievable goals: protecting the integral water cycle and achieving universal access. By MAR RIVERO 4413 readings AUTHOR MAR RIVERO 07-09-2023 HANG TAGS AGUA Year after year, and with increasing frequency, natural disasters take their toll on our water resources. Floods, droughts, cyclonic storms and unprecedented long heat waves hit different regions of the planet, causing devastating human suffering and, in some cases, decades of development wiped out in a matter of weeks. However, it is not just these extreme events that indicate that we are facing a global water crisis. For decades we have been experiencing a “silent crisis” through situations of water scarcity, excess and contamination to varying degrees. Many of these situations do not derive from uncontrollable natural events, but from political and economic decisions that respond to interests that have nothing to do with the common good. The evidence is diverse and varied: population growth, increased per capita water consumption derived from unlimited consumption models, and changes in the uses of land and water have caused global water use to decline. has multiplied by 6 in the last 100 years. Uses that continue to increase at a constant rate of 1% each year (UNESCO 2020), increasing the overexploitation of aquifers and the degradation of aquatic ecosystems.
As a society we have failed in challenges such as universal access to water, the preservation of freshwater ecosystems, the equitable management of demand, the prevention of pollution, the reuse of water or the use of technologies that minimize its consumption. Consequently, according to the OECD Global Commission on the Water Economy, we face the prospect of a 40% decline in freshwater supplies by 2030 , with severe shortages in regions where water is already limited. Although this situation brings with it critical consequences at all CZ Leads levels (social, environmental and economic), not all people suffer them with equal intensity. Millions of people around the world still lack access to adequate drinking water and sanitation services, increasing their health risks and limiting their development opportunities. The way to guarantee a safe and equitable future is to promote urgent and coordinated action, with comprehensive and systemic measures that address the causes and not just the specific mitigation of the problem, promoting sustainable solutions in the use and management of water. Also in economic terms, the lack of adequate access to water affects the most vulnerable people to a greater extent , making it difficult to obtain income, affecting their work productivity and increasing their health expenses for the treatment of diseases linked to water, increasingly. frequent.
The lack of water thus leads to a spiral of poverty from which it is not easy to escape. In terms of gender equality, the situation is alarming. Poor access to water especially affects women and girls, who are responsible for supplying the family in most regions of the world, with the consequent dedication of a large part of their daily work day to this task. Who can focus on their training, participation in political and social life or launching economic initiatives when you spend between 4 and 6 hours a day walking to the nearest fountain? Let us not forget to factor into the equation the growing conflicts over water at regional and local levels, especially in areas with shared water resources. Conflicts in which, once again, the most vulnerable groups lose out, among which indigenous peoples and rural communities stand out due to their little political weight. What we are witnessing is the result of decades of poor water governance worldwide , ignoring the effect that unacceptable policies or practices are having. Without a doubt, the scenario is complicated, but it cannot lead us to discouragement but rather to indignation and action. The challenge of reversing this situation and putting a stop to the errors of the past is possible and viable if we manage to act collectively towards two clear and achievable goals: protecting the integral water cycle and achieving universal access.