STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 6. 2012 – A warning has been sent out ahead of the Rio+20 summit later this month for political leaders to fully prioritise water to avoid causing environmental damage.
The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) has said that by 2030, if water consumption habits continue, humanity’s demand for water could outstrip supply by as much as 40%.
This would, according to SIWI, place water, energy and food security at risk, increase public health costs, constrain economic development, lead to social and geopolitical tensions and cause lasting environmental damage.
Water has been highlighted as one of seven key areas that need “priority attention” at the United Nations’ summit, including “decent jobs, energy, sustainable cities, food security and sustainable agriculture, oceans and disaster readiness”.
The Stockholm-based institute said that in Rio de Janeiro, the creation of global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) will be important to enable focused and coherent action on sustainable development.
“We welcome the overall acknowledgement that any set of SDGs must incorporate water,” SIWI said. “As a cross cutting resource and the bloodstream of the green economy, water is an evident candidate for one overarching SDG, but it also must be reflected in the other SDGs.
“Further on, a SDG on water should highlight the need for integrating water, food and energy security and for improving the implementation of integrated water resources management at all levels to maintain and enhance ecosystem services, equitable access to water and the efficient use of water for productive purposes.”
SIWI said the outcome of Rio+20 should explicitly:
- Recognise the key role of water as a resource and a hazard and address the importance of integrated water resources management in disaster risk reduction.
- Address cross-cutting issues and interlinkages, including those among water, energy, food, health, ecosystems and climate change.
- Promote the necessity to integrate water in climate adaptation and mitigation policy and implementation at all levels.
- Call for more effective cooperation on transboundary waters and in particular the ratification and implementation of the UN Conven¬tion on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses.
- Recognise the importance of transparency, accountability and integrity as part of the efforts to improve water governance and prevention of corruption.
- Encourage countries to set up procedures for local stakeholder participation in planning, budgeting and implementation of reforms related to water resources and water supply and sanitation.
Rio+20 takes place between June 20-22 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, twenty years after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, where countries adopted Agenda 21. This was a blueprint to rethink economic growth, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection.
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