Aditi Choudhary, Ekta and Nancy
via worldbank.org
"There is plenty of water in the universe without life, but nowhere is there life without water".- Sylvia A. Earle
Water plays an important role in maintaining life. The increasing population , industrialisation and pollution are making usable water scarcer. As per reports of the world wildlife organisation, nearly 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to water and around 2.7 billion people face water scarcity for at least one month in a year. Therefore, it becomes really important to conserve water in order to sustain life. Many organisations including governmental organisations, NGOs and business organisations are working together to raise awareness and to find solutions for the same. One such attempt made by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is the organization of the World Water Week event.
History
The world water week in Stockholm began as the Stockholm Water Symposium in 1991 and has been conveyed annually ever since. In 2001, the name was changed to The World Water Week. Initially a single theme was used for 4-5 years. However, from the year 2008, a different theme is selected for each year. In 2017, a gold standard was introduced, according to which the session should have 40 percent women as speakers and there should be at least one person under the age of 35.
Vision : Building a water wise world together
World Water week is a leading conference on global water issues. It is a non profit event which is co-created with leading organisations. Nearly 130 countries and people from different professional backgrounds take part in this event. It provides a wider range of water related topics including food security, health, agriculture, technology, biodiversity and the climate crisis. Awards distribution has also been included as a part of this event. It includes two awards namely Stockholm Water Prize and Stockholm Junior Water Prize. This year, the World Water Week 2021 was held online from 23rd August - 27th August, 2021. It was concluded that although there are many solutions to the water crisis and climate change, we also require political will and sufficient investments for the same.
Importance of World Water Week
Organising such events helps in understanding the problems related to water scarcity, pollution and create awareness among people. Many professionals from different fields participate in this event which helps in finding best possible solutions and it inspires many people to give their best to preserve nature. SIWI through this world water week event tries to strengthen water governance for a sustainable future.
Theme for 2021: Building resilience faster
via worldwaterweek.org
The theme of World Water week 2021 was Building resilience faster, which aimed at finding feasible and concrete solutions to climate change, water related issues and Covid-19 pandemic. Thematic scope, which describes the theme every year, is developed by SIWI’s (Stockholm International Water Institute) Scientific Programme Committee based on scientific inputs and important considerations. Undoubtedly, the most imperative issue threatening the planet and necessitating international collaboration is irreversible climate change. Frequent and intense wildfires,flooding, heat waves and risk to water and development across the globe are a testimony to the aforementioned fact, only further corroborated by the recently released 6th Assessment Report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, flagging a code red for humanity. This necessitates transition to truly resilient systems and societies which are able to adapt to the fast changing realities of our environment. World Water week aimed to propel actions to build resilience faster to mitigate the climate crisis. Below mentioned are the core issues that the summit grappled with -
There is an urgent need to build pandemic and climate change resilient societies which value water as a social, economic and financial capital.
By confidence building, encouraging innovation, mobilizing resources and valuing water, we can uplift the vulnerable population and at the same time, a movement aimed at conserving and valuing water with great political leadership can assist in tackling climate crisis and pandemic and meeting sustainable development goals.
Extreme weather events because of climate change will erase significant progress made in abating global hunger and nutrition as well as water supply and sanitation, thereby putting vulnerable populations at high risk. So important questions related to water insecurity, well being of vulnerable communities, strengthening resilience through financial instruments need to be addressed.
Climate change mitigation and adaptation require synergic efforts in the post-pandemic world as do the other environmental concerns. Policies and investments that are comprehensive, sustainable and feasible can assist in achieving SDGs and Paris Agreement as well as give impetus to synergic efforts.
There has to be new approaches for water management, cooperation between different sectors, building resilience and ensuring gender and social inclusion based on technology, indigenous knowledge and negotiations to address shared risks posed by climate change and economic disruption caused by pandemic including water related stresses.
The strain and stress put by pandemic on urban water management systems indicates the need to build resilient and climate adapted cities .
The private players and businesses need to address climate change and health crisis through a holistic approach designed to navigate losses and opportunities on one hand and reducing GHGs, promoting climate friendly processes, creating new jobs and aiding in post pandemic recovery, on the other.
Climate financing is a crucial factor in climate adaptation, but the significant water systems do not receive funds in proportion to, say, energy and transportation. Climate funds provide security against losses triggered by extreme weather events, so funds can assist in making resilient investments into water related stresses.
Everyone has a right to safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation. Proper information dissemination, improved awareness, education, promoting water values, policies and law, human rights based approach, multi-level governance, empowered courts can not only uphold the responsibility to value water but also enhance the capacities and resilience of societies to deal with climate related risks and pandemic.
World Water week 2021 focused on role of water, recognizing that the climate crisis is indeed a water crisis in addressing the climate and pandemic crisis. Stakeholders, non-state actors, in addition to political leaders came together to deliberate, debate and discuss the scientific inputs, and find pragmatic solutions with the aim to build a resilient future through negotiations, initiatives and collaboration at local, national and international level.
Water Crisis and Water Pollution
"There will be no water by 2040 if we keep doing what we're doing today" - Professor Benjamin Sovacool, Aarhus University, Denmark
With the world population growing at a rate of 1.03% from 2020, it is no big surprise that the world will soon be facing water scarcity if humans keep over-exploiting the present water resources. Billions of people worldwide lack proper access to freshwater and the problem is predicted to get worse with growing population and increasing global warming.
Water scarcity is a major issue that is rising very rapidly in modern days. Most of the sources for water in usable form are slowly drying up. Climate change is causing droughts and water shortage in some parts while destruction in the form of floods in others. Agriculture being really water intensive, uses 70% of the world’s accessible freshwater out of which, around 60% water is wasted due to various reasons including inefficient application methods. Countries like India, China, Australia, Spain and the United States who produce a large amount of food, are walking closer to their water resource limits.
In the last 50 years, the population on the planet has doubled. With this growth, comes economic development and industrialization to provide facilities for all. This leads to changes in the water ecosystem around the globe which also lead to massive loss of biodiversity. The increasing population needs food, shelter, clothing, etc., thus resulting in additional pressure on freshwater sources. India, being the second most populated country, demands a lot of resources to fulfil basic necessities. Population growth, faulty agricultural practices, climate changes, and excessive exploitation of groundwater are some of the major causes of the water crisis in India. Around 21 cities all over India are predicted to completely exhaust their groundwater soon, Chennai being the first one of them.
Along with all these factors, water pollution is another major factor for water scarcity. Despite many regulations and treatment methods applied, water pollution remains a serious global issue. 80% of the total wastewater produced is released in the ecosystem, that too largely untreated. For ages, our water resources were taken as an unlimited source that can put up with endless withdrawing and dumping and it eventually resulted in our water resources drowning in chemicals, wastes and what not. This global problem takes more lives than war and other forms of violence combined.
In India, issues related to water pollution are rising rapidly due to the growth in economy and population. The Central Pollution Control Board in 2015, discovered that the polluted water sources doubled in number in the span of just 5 years. Due to regular dumping of industrial waste, there have been quite some effects on surface water as well as ground water. Researchers even found increased levels of arsenic in groundwater which can result in rise of the cases of neurological and cardiovascular diseases.
The predicted time for the complete exhaustion of freshwater may arrive sooner than 2040 if we do not take strict actions now. This is high time and the day is not far away when freshwater will be considered a luxury.
Really beautiful!! Much needed information.
What an Article- love the way you write @Nancy - :))