Water shortage by 2025 – UN warning
According to UN sources, some 290 million people in Mediterranean countries will have limited access to water by 2025, a situation that could generate social and territorial conflicts and one that the Union for the Mediterranean hopes to avoid by embarking on a global strategy to ensure the supply of this resource.
Representatives from 43 Mediterranean countries are meeting in Barcelona to approve this document, which as well as ensuring a supply of water to people in the whole Mediterranean basin, at a time of population expansion and when the effects of climate change are already being seen, has as one of its aims the reduction of water consumption so that by 2025 we are consuming 25% less than in 2005.
This joint strategy which the group is trying to push through today, will be the first major challenge of the newly formed Union for the Mediterranean; however, they see the negotiations coming up against some political obstacles.
In particular, the Israeli delegation opposed the reference to the occupied territories when discussing the scope of commitments to be included in the strategy, such as the preservation of water resources, improving their management, safeguarding public health and eradicating poverty.
Another area of friction is the question of river water shared by Turkey and Iraq and which could cause a last-minute collapse in the talks.
The Minister for Environment and Rural Affairs, Elena Espinosa, who chaired the inauguration of the 4th Euro Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on Water, which is currently debating this strategy, is confident that the discrepancies can be overcome today.
The secretary general of the Union for the Mediterranean, Masa’deh Ahmad has called for urgent action to ensure a diversification of resources and access to water for all inhabitants of the Mediterranean basin and which will allow equal development in all of the countries without compromising the ecosystem.
Masa’deh Ahmad, who explained that some 50 water projects are already underway, remarked that the water debate cannot be local in nature and has to involve the UN, the Arab League and the African Ministers Council. He also said that a new water culture was needed that allows the creation of mechanisms to generate prosperity.
Elena Espinosa has stressed that the Mediterranean is an area of water imbalances, with extremes of drought and floods, which forces countries in the Union to adopt a “common strategy on a scarce resource” to provide medium and long-term water resources.
The minister said that Spain is a pioneer in water management when faced with a “water balance deficit”, which together with investments in infrastructure have helped meet demand.
The Secretary for European Affairs of France, Pierre Lollueche, warned that social tensions over water resources in the Mediterranean will be compounded by increased demand due to international tourism and combined with a drop in rainfall and increased temperatures.
Water purification is one of the great challenges of the strategy, since, as Lollueche pointed out, 47 million people from Mediterranean countries have no access to purified water and one third of cities in the Mediterranean basin have no purification plants.
The Secretary of State for Water Resources in Egypt, Hussein El Afty placed special emphasis on this strategy to acquire the necessary funding mechanisms with the involvement of the private sector as well, to implement action plans with concrete projects, support the relevant technical and technology transfer “to open a future of peace in the region.”
For his part, the mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu, indicated that the effects of climate change on water levels will be particularly visible in the Mediterranean basin and highlighted the role of cities in the management of water, since they are home to 50% of the population in this area. He also highlighted the example of responsible and sustainable consumption that has been achieved in the Catalan capital.
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