With hand washing one of the top tips for trying to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the lack of safely managed sanitation fuel fears that the pandemic could spread even more rapidly once it reaches developing nations with limited water and health systems.
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UN: Water infrastructure gap risks fuelling coronavirus and climate crisis
A continuing shortfall in global water infrastructure risks exacerbating both the climate crisis and the escalating coronavirus pandemic, according to a sobering new report from the UN released to coincide with yesterday's World Water Day.
The annual World Water Development Report primarily focuses on how billions of people continue to lack access to reliable and safe water supplies and services, while warning that climate impacts threaten to further undermine water security.
But the UN also acknowledged that "the critical need to substantially improve access to clean water for drinking and hygiene for billions of the world's people has been further thrown into stark relief by the current deadly outbreak of COVID-19".
The report notes that four billion people live in areas facing water scarcity, 2.2 billion people currently do not have access to safely managed drinking water, and 4.2 billion, or 55 per cent of the world's population, are without safely managed sanitation.
With hand washing one of the top tips for trying to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the report will further fuel fears that the pandemic could spread even more rapidly once it reaches developing nations with limited water and health systems.
The report also highlights that insufficient investment in water infrastructure and water management is fuelling a raft of longer term risks, which are likely to be further exacerbated by climate change.
Developed by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in collaboration with UN-Water, the report sets out a raft of recommendations for policymakers and business leaders.
Specifically, it calls for governments to adopt a range of adaptation and mitigation measures, including natural, technical, and technological measures to curb enhance water security, limit greenhouse gas emissions, and protect the environment.
It also argues that there are "increasing opportunities to systematically integrate adaptation and mitigation planning into water-related investments, in order to make them more attractive to donors".
UNESCO Director-General, Audrey Azoulay warned that without urgent action the world risked missing a number of key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
"Without sustainable access to water, we will be unable to achieve goals such as quality education or the development of more prosperous, fairer societies," she said. "Given the urgency of the situation, the coming decade needs to be one of action."
She also called for water issues to be better incorporated into UN climate negotiations. "The word 'water' rarely appears in international climate agreements, even though it plays a key role in issues such as food security, energy production, economic development and poverty reduction," she said. "This potential of water must be explored, given that our actions to reduce global warming are currently lagging behind our ambitions, despite wide adherence to the Paris Agreement... The report shows that water does not need to be a problem - it can be part of the solution. Water can support efforts to both mitigate and adapt to climate change."
Her comments were echoed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres who warned efforts to curb emissions and enhance water infrastructure had to go hand-in-hand.
"Water is the primary medium through which we perceive the effects of climate disruption, from extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, to glacial melting, saltwater intrusion and sea level rise," he said, adding that "we must urgently scale up investments in healthy watersheds and water infrastructure, with dramatic improvements in the efficiency of water use".
He also advised that governments should anticipate and respond to climate risks at every level of water management.
"We must use this year and COP26 in Glasgow to bend the emissions curve and create a secure foundation for water sustainability," Guterres said.
The original article was published here
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