At the most fundamental level, water security is an integral part of fostering shared prosperity and maintaining a healthy, livable planet. The World Bank calls attention to this, as its vision for poverty eradication hinges on guaranteeing water security for all inhabitants of the earth.
The 10th World Water Forum report, “Water for Shared Prosperity,” was recently released by the World Bank and the Government of Indonesia, delineating the challenges of water security and the risks faced by the poorest and most vulnerable people. The report seeks to guide policies that improve access to water, strengthen climate resilience, reduce poverty, and promote shared prosperity.
Vision for the Global Community
Access to clean water is a cornerstone of human survival. Water supports basic needs like drinking, food production, and sanitation, all forming the foundation of a healthy and productive life.
Beyond basic survival, water is integral to economic production and growth, driving production, energy, transportation, and agricultural activities. It also sustains healthy ecosystems, providing natural resources and services for billions of people.
This is especially true for developing countries that depend heavily on water-intensive sectors to create jobs. Notably, 55% of employees in low-income countries rely on these sectors compared to less than 20% in high-income nations.
While these facts hold, mismanagement of shared water resources and climate change present a significant challenge, interfering with the productivity of these sectors and threatening economic stability. The poorest populations are also the most vulnerable to water-related risks.
Most of the population depend on rainfed agriculture, spend a significant portion of their income on food, and lack the resources to recover from floods or droughts. These risks can raise poverty levels, often creating cycles that are difficult to break.
For instance, disruptions in education due to flooding are projected to result in a global lifetime earnings loss of $565 billion, with low-income countries facing the greatest impact. To address these issues, the World Bank and partner organizations have turned to sustainable water management and equitable service delivery as the solution.
Three interventions were proposed at the World Water Forum to increase shared prosperity and growth. The first is to protect the most vulnerable populations from extreme hydro-climatic risks.
The second is to improve water resources development, management, and allocation. The third is to address global water access inequalities and prioritize Inclusive service delivery approaches.
Water security is more than an environmental issue; it is a foundation of human progress. As such, governments, organizations, and communities must work together to build a water-secure world.