Urgent need to manage water more sustainably, says UN report

© Cajetan Barretto

The Report is published by the World Water Assessment Programme, which is hosted by UNESCO, on behalf of UN-Water. It stresses the urgent need to change the way we use and manage this vital resource, as the United Nations prepares to adopt new Sustainable Development Goals.

“Water resources are a key element in policies to combat poverty, but are sometimes themselves threatened by development. Water directly influences our future, so we need to change the way we assess, manage and use this resource in the face of ever-rising demand and the over exploitation of our groundwater reserves.” This is the appeal made by the latest edition of the UN World Water Development Report.

The report’s observations are timely, because the international community has to draw up a new development programme, to take over from the Millennium Development Goals”, says UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova.

“There is already international consensus that water and sanitation are essential to the achievement of many sustainable development goals. They are inextricably linked to climate change, agriculture, food security, health, energy, equality, gender and education. Now, we must look forward to measurability, monitoring and implementation”, says Michel Jarraud, Chair of UN-Water and Secretary-General […]

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