EcoWatch
Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k Subscribe Subscribe
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
      • Top Companies By State
        • California Solar Companies
        • Texas Solar Companies
        • New York Solar Companies
        • Florida Solar Companies
        • See All States
      • Top Incentives By State
        • California Solar Incentives
        • Texas Solar Incentives
        • New York Solar Incentives
        • Florida Solar Incentives
        • See All States
      • Solar Panel Costs By State
        • Solar Panel Costs in California
        • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
        • Solar Panel Costs in New York
        • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
        • See All States
      • Value of Solar by State
        • Is Solar Worth It In California?
        • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
        • Is Solar Worth It New York?
        • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
        • See All States
      • Company Reviews
        • Tesla Solar Review
        • Sunrun Solar Review
        • SunPower Solar Review
        • Vivint Solar Review
        • See All Companies
      • Common Solar Questions
        • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
        • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
        • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
        • Can You Finance Solar?
        • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
        • Payback On Solar Panels?
      • Solar Resources
        • Interactive Solar Calculator
        • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
        • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
        • Tesla Solar Roof Review
        • Cheapest Solar Panels
      • Companies Compared
        • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs SunPower
        • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
        • SunPower vs ADT Solar
EcoWatch
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
    • Go Solar Today
    • Top Companies By State
      • California Solar Companies
      • Texas Solar Companies
      • New York Solar Companies
      • Florida Solar Companies
      • See All States
    • Top Incentives By State
      • California Solar Incentives
      • Texas Solar Incentives
      • New York Solar Incentives
      • Florida Solar Incentives
      • See All States
    • Solar Panel Costs By State
      • Solar Panel Costs in California
      • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
      • Solar Panel Costs in New York
      • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
      • See All States
    • Value of Solar by State
      • Is Solar Worth It In California?
      • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
      • Is Solar Worth It New York?
      • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
      • See All States
    • Company Reviews
      • Tesla Solar Review
      • Sunrun Solar Review
      • SunPower Solar Review
      • Vivint Solar Review
      • See All Companies
    • Common Solar Questions
      • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
      • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
      • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
      • Can You Finance Solar?
      • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
      • Payback On Solar Panels?
    • Solar Resources
      • Interactive Solar Calculator
      • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
      • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
      • Tesla Solar Roof Review
      • Cheapest Solar Panels
    • Companies Compared
      • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs SunPower
      • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
      • SunPower vs ADT Solar

The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    EcoWatch
    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    Home Conservation

    Global Freshwater Demand Will Exceed Supply 40% by 2030, Experts Warn

    By: Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
    Updated: March 17, 2023
    Edited by Chris McDermott
    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon
    Pollution from mining companies contaminates the Tagarete River which flows into Uru Uru Lake near Oruro, Bolivia on March 27, 2021. Gaston Brito Miserocchi / Getty Images
    Why you can trust us

    Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

    Samuel Taylor Coleridge first published the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” in 1798, but, with the world running out of fresh water, the lines, “Water, water, every where, / Ne any drop to drink,” feel timely.

    Today, the planet is facing an unprecedented water crisis, with global freshwater demand predicted to exceed supply by 40 percent by 2030, President of the 77th United Nations General Assembly Csaba Kőrösi said at a press conference on the upcoming UN Water Conference, as Down to Earth reported.

    “The scientific evidence is that we have a water crisis. We are misusing water, polluting water, and changing the whole global hydrological cycle, through what we are doing to the climate. It’s a triple crisis,” Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Johan Rockstrom, who is co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW), told The Guardian.

    More From EcoWatch
    • The Best Solar Powered Water Pumps
    • Solar Water Heaters Guide
    • Sustainable Home Improvements You Can Make

    A Water Action Agenda — voluntary pledges by countries and stakeholders to achieve sustainable development goals — is expected to be adopted at the UN conference being held March 22 to 24 in New York.

    “Turning the Tide: A Collective Call to Action,” a report published by the GCEW, puts forth urgent actions humans must take collectively to stop the imminent water crisis. The commission said that if the world does not take these steps, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and climate action in general will fail, the GCEW said in a press release.

    According to the report, governments must stop providing agricultural subsidies for the extraction and overuse of water, reported The Guardian. The reckless and wasteful operations of heavy industry like mining and manufacturing must also cease.

    The authors of the report point out that water must begin to be managed by countries as a common good, since most depend on each other for the essential resource, and its pollution and overuse threatens the world’s water supplies.

    “We need a much more proactive, and ambitious, common good approach. We have to put justice and equity at the centre of this, it’s not just a technological or finance problem,” said GCEW co-chair Mariana Mazzucato, who is a professor at University College London and a lead author of the report, as The Guardian reported.

    Rockstrom said most countries get about half their water from the “green” water  — the release of water vapor from the leaves of trees during transpiration — of neighboring nations and don’t appreciate the interconnection.

    The GCEW report provides seven crucial recommendations, including managing the planet’s water cycle as a common good, stopping the underpricing of water, phasing out $700 billion in subsidies for agriculture and water and enabling investments in water sustainability, access and resilience in low- and middle-income nations through the establishment of Just Water Partnerships.

    Clean and adequate water for all vulnerable populations, as well as the restoration of wetlands, depleted groundwater supplies and other freshwater systems should also be prioritized, the report said.

    “There will be no agricultural revolution unless we fix water,” Rockstrom said, as reported by The Guardian. “Behind all these challenges we are facing, there’s always water, and we never talk about water.”

    Next week’s UN Water Conference will be the first time the intergovernmental organization has met to discuss water since the first water summit in 1977. “If we are to have a hope of solving our climate crisis, our biodiversity crisis and other global challenges on food, energy and health, we need to radically change our approach in how we value and manage water,” Henk Ovink, a special envoy for international water affairs for the Netherlands, told The Guardian. “[This] is the best opportunity we have to put water at the centre of global action to ensure people, crops and the environment continue to have the water they need.”

    Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

      By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

      Cristen Hemingway Jaynes

      Cristen is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. She holds a JD and an Ocean & Coastal Law Certificate from University of Oregon School of Law and an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London. She is the author of the short story collection The Smallest of Entryways, as well as the travel biography, Ernest’s Way: An International Journey Through Hemingway’s Life.
      Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

      Read More

      Train Derails, Leaks an Estimated 5,000 Gallons of Fuel on Reservation in Washington
      Another train has derailed, this time on the Swinomish Reservation
      By Paige Bennett
      Forest Recovery Can Offset Some Tropical Deforestation Emissions, But Not All
      As deforestation continues in vulnerable and vital tropical rainforests, the
      By Olivia Rosane
      Two Aging UK Coal Plants to Shutter in March Despite Government Requests to Remain on Standby
      Two aging UK coal plants will close at the end
      By Olivia Rosane

      Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

        By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

        Latest Articles

        • Global Freshwater Demand Will Exceed Supply 40% by 2030, Experts Warn
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          March 17, 2023
        • Train Derails, Leaks an Estimated 5,000 Gallons of Fuel on Reservation in Washington
          by Paige Bennett
          March 17, 2023
        • Forest Recovery Can Offset Some Tropical Deforestation Emissions, But Not All
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 17, 2023
        • Two Aging UK Coal Plants to Shutter in March Despite Government Requests to Remain on Standby
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 17, 2023
        • Meet Europe’s Latest National Park, A Wild River in the Heart of Albania
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 17, 2023
        • Volkswagen Announces Plans for a More Affordable Electric Car
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          March 16, 2023
        • Property Values of Homes Near Solar Farms Appraised in New Study
          by Paige Bennett
          March 16, 2023
        • Top Apps to Help You Live More Sustainably
          by Linnea Harris
          March 16, 2023
        EcoWatch

        The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

          • Climate Climate
          • Animals Animals
          • Health + Wellness Health + Wellness
          • Insights + Opinion Insights + Opinion
          • Adventure Adventure
          • Oceans Oceans
          • Business Business
          • Solar Solar
          • About EcoWatch
          • Contact EcoWatch
          • EcoWatch Reviews
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy Policy
          • Learn About Solar Energy
          • Learn About Deregulated Energy
          • EcoWatch UK
          Follow Us
          Facebook 573k
          Twitter 238k
          Instagram 37k
          Subscribe Subscribe

          Experts for a healthier planet and life.

          Mentioned by:
          Learn more