March 28 |

Water is at risk. Climate change has caused phenomena such as rising sea levels, droughts, floods, and extreme temperatures to affect the water cycle and water quality: an essential resource for living beings, food production, and the socioeconomic development of populations.

The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations (UN) states that due to the increase in extreme weather events resulting from global warming, water insecurity associated with climate will increase.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) stresses that “between 2 and 3 billion people suffer water shortages for at least one month a year”. Figures that according to the institution will double “from 930 million in 2016 to 1.7-2.4 billion people in 2050”:

“It is said that by 2040 we are going to have such big droughts and so much lack of water that many nations and many populations are going to have to emigrate (…) We are definitely going to have land struggles, land where there is water, where there is drinking water,” Thais Lopez, the director of the Volo Foundation, a private organization that advocates fighting climate change and improving education and health, told Voice of America.

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Against this backdrop, Lopez says that “the problems of the poorest countries are going to be exacerbated”.

Situation in Latin America:
According to the World Bank, Latin America has almost a third of the world’s water resources, representing the highest water endowment per capita. However, environmental conditions, exacerbated by climate change, have depleted reserves.

“This is very evident in Chile, Peru and northwestern Mexico, because these arid zones are becoming increasingly hotter and the availability of water is beginning to be a determining factor,” Rodolfo Lacy, Director of Climate Action and Environment for Latin America at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Special Envoy for Climate Affairs at the United Nations, told the Voice of America.

Lacy also stresses that water scarcity is “directly linked” to food production. He explains that if measures are not taken, such as modifying agricultural activities in order to dose water, or implementing infrastructures to monitor climate conditions, food-producing regions, such as the Paraná basin in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, or the Bajío in Mexico, could be affected.

“Agricultural activities that in some way depend on high humidity will also be affected, because as humidity decreases in tropical regions, some super crops such as bananas or coffee will have less chance of being developed as we had been doing so far,” said Lacy.

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Another factor that worries professionals is water quality.

Quality water may contain microorganisms and chemical substances that can cause diseases such as diarrhea or intoxication, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

The institution highlights that approximately 7,600 children under 5 years of age die annually from diarrheal diseases in Latin America. The countries with the highest percentages of mortality due to diarrhea among the youngest children are Haiti (23%), Guatemala (10%), Bolivia (7%) and Venezuela (5%).

According to Rodolfo Lacy, aquatic contamination should be prevented through measures such as avoiding dumping waste in the water and reducing fertilizers.

“Water is sometimes used to dispose of all kinds of waste (…) We know very well the problem of plastics in bodies of water both on land and in the ocean, such as chemicals, for example, that dissolve in water (…) Some of them (are) very toxic to animal and plant life.”

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The expert points out that the situation is especially complex in Latin America, where sometimes there is no adequate method in wastewater treatment systems.

“We are especially concerned about some ecosystems such as mangroves, which protect us from extreme hydro meteorological phenomena, such as hurricanes or rising seas (…) They can quickly disappear and that is what has happened,” he adds.

“It is said that we eat a card, the equivalent of a credit card, not only because of plastic packaging, because of everything we drink in plastic packaging, but because fish are consuming the plastic that is disposed of in our oceans,” explains Thais Lopez, of the Volo Foundation.

“It’s time to act”:
With the aim of organizing concrete actions related to water and sanitation around the world, the United Nations held a water conference March 22-24 in New York, the first such event in nearly 40 years.

Following the conference, it was proposed to appoint a special commissioner for water, and a multitude of non-binding agreements were drawn up to facilitate access to quality water and sanitation, such as the construction of toilets and the restoration of rivers and lakes damaged by human activity.

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The organization’s Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, assured in his final speech that the proposals will be reviewed in July at high-level political meetings, and reiterated the importance of “committing to a common future”.

“There can be no sustainable development without water,” he said: “It is time to act”.