Report sounds alarm over humanity's 'vampiric' overconsumption of its 'lifeblood' water

Humanity's 'vampiric' overconsumption of its 'lifeblood' — water — is increasingly putting the resource at risk, warnsthe United Nations (UN) in a report published on Wednesday. The report was released just hours ahead of a major summit dealing with the issue. As per the report, about 10 per cent of the "world's population lives in a country where water stress has reached a high or critical level."

The report, which was published by UN-Water and UNESCO, warns that "scarcity is becoming endemic" due to overconsumption and pollution. It adds that global warming will further increase seasonal water shortages in areas with abundant water as well as those already strained.

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In the report's foreword, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as per AFP, writes that the world is "blindly travelling a dangerous path" as "unsustainable water use, pollution and unchecked global warming are draining humanity's lifeblood."

"If nothing is done, it will be a business-as-usual scenario — it will keep on being between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of the population of the world that does not have access to sanitation and roughly 20-25 per cent of the world will not have access to safe water supply," said Richard Connor, lead author of the report while talking to AFP.

He added that as the global population increases, "in absolute numbers, there'll be more and more people that don't have access to these services."

The UN 2023 Water Conference will host 6,500 guests from around the world, including a hundred ministers and a dozen heads of state and government. The conference will take place from Wednesday (March 22) to Friday (March 24) in New York.

It invites governments and actors in the public and private sectors to present proposals for a 'water action agenda' that seeks to reverse the trend and help meet the development goal of ensuring "access to water and sanitation for all by 2030."

The UN 2023 Water Conference is the first summit on water in 50 years. Before this, the last high-level conference was held in 1977 in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

(With inputs from agencies)

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