World water report

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The World Water Development Report ( United Nations World Water Development Report , WWDR) is one of the " UN-Water " now a year out due in March thematically focused and strategically oriented report, among other things to the global state of the supply of potable (fresh) water . It is intended to "provide decision-makers with the tools to implement sustainable use of our water resources, also taking into account regional aspects, hotspots, examples and stories, making it relevant to a broad readership at different levels and in different regions of the world".

From 2003 to 2012 it was published every three years, then again in 2014 and since then annually in connection with World Water Day . Its creation and publication is coordinated by UNESCO's World Water Assessment Program (WWAP) .

2017 - Wastewater: An Untapped Resource

WWDR 2017 addressed wastewater as an “unused resource ” (“Wastewater: An untapped resource”). He “advocates a paradigm shift : Instead of viewing wastewater from private households , agriculture and industry as a problem, it should be used as a source of raw materials ”.

2018 - Nature Based Solutions for Water

The WWDR 2018 problematizes that fewer and fewer people will have access to clean water in the future, possibly half the world's population by 2050 . "Green" solutions, "natural" water cycles , which are used by water management , are becoming increasingly important . Under certain circumstances, these are superior to the "gray" techniques that have been more and more introduced in the past, such as B. Pipelines with drinking water directly into the apartments. For example, an example of the US metropolis of New York that has been established for thirty years now provides the cleanest drinking water in the United States: The city draws its drinking water from three retention basins in the surrounding area and pays farmers and landowners to reforest for their eco-services, plowing and spraying less To maintain sustainability. This also brings New York additional savings of three million dollars annually.

2019 - Leaving No One Behind

The World Water Development Report 2019 reinforces the development goals that the member states of the UN have set for themselves in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The human right to clean drinking water and sanitation is emphasized. This is the only way to reduce poverty and create prosperous societies. This will leave no one behind on the path to sustainable development.

2020 - Water and Climate Change

In her foreword to the World Water Development Report 2020, UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay pointed out the effects of water shortage on flora and fauna: “Around one million animal and plant species are facing extinction.” Since 1970, 84 species of freshwater have suffered % Decrease the greatest loss in biodiversity. People are also affected: around four billion people experience extreme water scarcity for at least one month a year.

The World Water Development Report 2020 describes water as the connecting element between the majority of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030. Water management measures in individual areas such as organic agriculture, the protection of wetlands and other near-natural solutions could help to bind carbon dioxide in biomass and soils. At the same time, wastewater treatment could, on the one hand, contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases through reduced emissions, while at the same time generating biogas as a renewable energy source, on the other hand, purified wastewater could be added back to the water cycle. As a rule, however, water is only dealt with as a question of principle in general strategies such as the Paris Climate Agreement; concrete measures and associated cost estimates are missing.

According to the report, additional funding for water would have to be made available through climate funds. The management of water resources as well as the water supply and sanitation is underfunded worldwide. There is a lack of integration of water management measures in climate funds. In addition, describing positive side effects such as job creation, improving public health and reducing poverty would make investments in water management more attractive.

See also

Sources / web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ World Water Development Report 2017. In: UN-Water. Retrieved April 2, 2018 (American English).
  2. ^ Sewage - an untapped resource. In: German UNESCO Commission. Retrieved April 2, 2018 .
  3. ↑ UN World Water Report 2018 - Nature as a sewage treatment plant . In: Deutschlandfunk . ( deutschlandfunk.de [accessed April 2, 2018]).
  4. ^ United Nations World Water Development Report. UNESCO, March 19, 2019, accessed August 28, 2020.
  5. ↑ UN World Water Development Report 2020 - Water and Climate Change . Austrian Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Regions and Tourism, March 24, 2020, accessed on August 28, 2020 (German).