Developing world must take the initiative on water crisis

A report, jointly published last month by UN Water and the UN Environment Programme, all but admits that the world is on an irreversible track to miss UN Sustainable Development Goal 6, which calls for the provision of clean water and sanitation for all by 2030.
The report warns that more than 3.3 billion people around the world are likely to be at severe risk of lacking clean water and sanitation by the deadline of 2030. It says that, in half the countries around the world, freshwater ecosystems like rivers, lakes and aquifers are being degraded, with rivers and lakes shrinking and aquifers being overexploited, leading to groundwater tables falling severely each year.
On top of that, all types of water bodies are being rapidly polluted, often to the point where water becomes unfit for human or animal consumption, leading to severe impacts on the health of living beings, including vegetation.
The report warns that the situation is dire not just for human health, but it also poses a serious threat to food security and biodiversity and makes climate change worse.
Unfortunately, this warning is not new or any graver than what has been predicted by scientists and ecologists for a few years. Of course, as has become the norm with the issues of climate change and pollution, there have been the usual platitudes and lip service from global leaders about the need to preserve water, not just for us humans for today and tomorrow, but also for the sake of the planet and the rest of the living beings on Earth.
There have been resolutions, including unanimous ones, at the highest levels of the UN, but the subsequent actions, which is where the proof of the pudding lies, have been lacking. The little that is being done in some countries is hardly likely to resolve the problem for the whole world.
That the situation is dire is reinforced at various levels by the latest report. It says that as many as 90 countries, almost entirely developing and poor countries, mostly in Africa, Central Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, have seen large-scale degradations of their freshwater ecosystems. It says that river flows have reduced in as many as 402 river basins worldwide, up from about 80 in the year 2000, indicating how rapidly the degradation is spreading.

There have been the usual platitudes and lip service from global leaders about the need to preserve water.

Ranvir S. Nayar

The overextraction of water, pollution, the creation of dams, land use conversion and climate change are the key challenges that these countries face in maintaining their ecosystems. Increasing human activities near the coast, like aquaculture and farming, also contribute to the threat, the UN report says.
As the threats are mainly in Africa and Asia, which house more than half the world’s population and which lie at the bottom of the global pyramid of economic prosperity, any meaningful action to counter the situation can only come with assistance, both financial and technical, from the outside world, namely the rich countries.
Indeed, the latest report points out that the situation has shown signs of marginal improvement or at least of the damage slowing down in Europe and North America, the richest parts of the world. This shows that, with technology and most importantly money, the degradation can be slowed, totally halted or even reversed at least partially.
But for this to happen, the rich nations need to open up their banks, both financial and knowledge, and share their resources with the less fortunate parts of the world.
However, it is not that the developing countries can do nothing on their own. There is a lot of scope for them to at least slow down the degradation of their aquatic resources. For one, governance needs to be improved dramatically, with not only better planning and management of water resources, but also by clamping down strictly on industry to ensure that water consumption and pollution control norms are respected. They also need to curb the wasteful domestic consumption of water, notably by the richest parts of their societies. This will not only improve water availability but also cut water inequity, which has been rising sharply over the past two decades, especially in countries like India.
They can also train their farmers in cutting the wasteful usage of water in farming and persuade them to shift to crops or farming techniques that avoid consuming large volumes of water, as is already being seen in some key farming nations in Asia and Africa.
None of these measures are beyond the reach of governments in the developing world and are, in fact, part of their duties. By undertaking these measures, the governments of the developing world can help themselves and their citizens significantly.
This will not be enough, however, and the rich countries also need to step in and help. But unlike many other areas, this is one issue where poor countries can take the initiative — and they must. Any delay will be a colossal crime not just against humanity, but also planet Earth and all its inhabitants.

• Ranvir S. Nayar is the managing editor of Media India Group and founder-director of the Europe India Foundation for Excellence.