Water: A Defining Issue for Post-2015

[adirondacker]

by
Amantha Perera, IPS News

"TOCKHOLM - A gift of nature, or a valuable commodity? A human right, or a luxury for the privileged few? Will the agricultural sector or industrial sector be the main consumer of this precious resource? Whatever the answers to these and many more questions, one thing is clear: that water will be one of the defining issues of the coming decade.

Some estimates say that 768 million people still have no access to fresh water. Other research puts the number higher, suggesting that up to 3.5 billion people are denied the right to an improved source of this basic necessity.

As United Nations agencies and member states inch closer to agreeing on a new set of development targets to replace the soon-to-expire Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the need to include water in post-2015 development planning is more urgent than ever.

The latest World Water Development Report (WWDR) suggests, “Global water demand (in terms of water withdrawals) is projected to increase by some 55 percent by 2050, mainly because of growing demands from manufacturing (400 percent), thermal electricity generation (140 percent) and domestic use (130 percent).”

In addition, a steady rise in urbanization is likely to result in a ‘planet of cities’ where 40 percent of the world’s population will reside in areas of severe water stress through 2050.

Groundwater supplies are diminishing; some 20 percent of the world’s aquifers are facing over-exploitation, and degradation of wetlands is affecting the capacity of ecosystems to purify water supplies."

>SNIP>

more of a short, but decent reference to water budgets...
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/09/23/water-defining-issue-post-2015

[jwirr]

1. As I watched the climate march and the following protests at Wall Street I thought of Ferguson MO

The protests in Ferguson MO ended with a resolution to achieve certain goals such as get out the vote.

In the last two days I have not seen that happening in the issue of climate change. I heard one speaker suggest that each of us do something to help the problem. But someone has to be more specific. We recycle, we turn off lights, we wash our clothes with cold water, we turn down the thermostat in the winter.

But these are things we already do. What other suggestions could have been made? How do we begin living more simple so that we make an impact. I am sure there are many things that can be done but if we do not educate the world like we did about these other actions we will not get anything done.

So the issue in this OP is water. What ways can we change our lives to fix this situation?