More than half of global food production could be at risk by 2050 if urgent action against food poisoning global water crisis are not adopted, warned a group of leaders and experts in a report published this Thursday 17th.
“Nearly 3 billion people and more than half of global food production are now in areas where total water storage is likely to decline,” says the report produced by the Global Commission on the Water Economy (GCEW). .
Entitled The water economy: valuing the hydrological cycle as a global common good, the analysis warns that the water crisis could lead to an average reduction of 8% in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in high-income countries by 2050 and up to 15% in low-income countries.
Economic declines would be a consequence of “the combined effects of changes in precipitation patterns and rising temperatures due to climate changealong with the decline in total water storage and the lack of access to clean water and sanitation.”
GCEW considers that “destructive land use and persistent mismanagement of water resources have combined with the worsening climate crisis to place the global water cycle under unprecedented pressure.”
In hydrology, the so-called water cycle or hydrological cycle refers to the continuous exchange of water between the atmosphere, soil water, surface water, groundwater and plants.
“For the first time in human history, we are unbalancing the global water cycle. We can no longer rely on rain, the source of all fresh water, due to human-caused climate and land use changes, which undermine the basis of human well-being and the global economy”, says Johan Rockström, director of the Institute of Potsdam for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and one of the five co-chairs of GCEW.
‘Historical’ report
The Global Commission on the Economy of Water was created by the Netherlands in 2022, based on the work of dozens of renowned scientists and economists, with the aim of forming a comprehensive view on the state of global hydrological systems and their management.
The 194-page report published this Thursday is the largest global study to analyze the various aspects of the water crisis and suggest solutions. The document, which the commission classifies as “historic”, argues that existing approaches caused the water crisis, as they did not take into account its value for the economy and the preservation of ecosystems.
While water is often perceived as “nature’s abundant gift,” the report emphasizes that it is scarce and expensive to transport.
In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the right of all people to access sufficient water for personal and domestic use, which would be equivalent to between 50 and 100 liters per day. The GCEW, however, claims that this amount has been underestimated and maintains that “a dignified life – including adequate nutrition and consumption – requires a minimum of around 4,000 liters per person per day”.
Water as a global common good
Experts called for the water cycle to be considered a “global common good”, which requires “collaboration across borders and cultures”, and for a transformation in water governance at all levels.
“The costs involved in these actions are very small compared to the damage that continued inaction will cause to economies and humanity”, highlighted the experts.
To face the crisis, a “new water economy” is necessary, based on “bolder and more integrated thinking and a reformulation of the policy structure”, argues the commission.
“We can only solve this crisis if we think in much broader terms about how we govern water. Recognizing the interactions of water with climate change and biodiversity. Mobilizing all our economic tools and public and private financing to innovate and invest in water. Thinking and acting multilaterally”, summarizes another co-president of GCEW, the leader of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
End subsidies for plant-based diets
Among other measures, the GCEW document advocates the elimination of harmful subsidies in water-intensive sectors. “We need to link water pricing to appropriate subsidies,” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and co-chair of GCEW.
The first mission, according to the commission, should be to launch a revolution in food systems, which would include the use of microirrigation (an irrigation technique that consists of applying water in a precise and controlled way) in agriculture and the progressive change “of animal-based diets to plant-based diets.”
GCEW also recommends that essential natural habitats be conserved and restored to preserve moisture in soils and plants, which returns and circulates through the atmosphere and generates rain.
“No community or economy will be spared”
The report also calls for the protection of the poorest and most vulnerable. “The global water crisis hits the most vulnerable first and hardest. More than a thousand children under the age of 5 die every day because of unsafe water and poor sanitation,” the report says.
“However, no community or economy will be spared the consequences of an unregulated water cycle — the result of our collective actions over decades. The most dangerous thing is that we will fail to combat climate change if we fail to manage water”, warns the text.
