By Alexandru R. Savulescu
KYOTO, Japan, March 17, 2003 (ENS) - With the world poised for war in Iraq, thousands of participants gathered in Kyoto for the 3rd World Water Forum are expressing their concern over another potential source of conflict - water.
"Our discussions will have far more effect on humankind for the 21st century than the current crisis in the Middle East, or any other political problem of the day," believes William Cosgrove, vice president of the World Water Council, a think tank on water founded in 1996.
To date, no fewer than 300 potential water conflict zones have been identified by the United Nations.
"The world is in a water crisis that will only grow more acute and devastating in coming years unless governments start giving higher priority to water in their development and investment plans," says Cosgrove.
His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince of Japan Naruhito opens the 3rd World Water Forum (Photo courtesy Leila Mead/IISD) Ten thousand government officials, representatives of international and nongovernmental organizations, industry and water experts are attending events in Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka between March 16 and 23, to discuss the world water crisis and its solutions. The Forum is expected to be the most important international water conference ever held. In a break with the traditional approaches to such meetings, the organizers are asking participants to come not to debate issues, but to describe actions they have taken, and make concrete commitments to future actions.
Says Hideaki Oda, secretary general of the Secretariat of the 3rd World Water Forum, "I am very proud of the fact that the Forum's program was shaped by many around the world through the Water Voice project, the Virtual Water Forum, regional and international meetings - this has been a true ground up approach in organizing this event."
Key topics include - good governance, such as making governments accept water as a priority; effective management through capacity building; creating new models for financing; giving large segments of society, especially women and the poor, a voice in water issues; building from the bottom up a watchdog system involving independent parties to monitor the existing situation and the progress which is being made.
Developing clean, fresh drinking water for all people on Earth is the aim of the World Water Forum. (Photo courtesy ABS) The World Water Forum is a global meeting every three years of governments, international organizations such as UN agencies and donor organizations, scientists, water experts and nongovernmental organizations to deal with growing worldwide water issues. The first World Water Forum was convened by the World Water Council in Marrakesh, Morocco in 1997. A World Water Vision was presented at the 2nd World Water Forum, held at The Hague, The Netherlands, in 2000. The 3rd World Water Forum now underway in Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka is the central highlight of the United Nations' 2003 International Year of Freshwater, and World Water Day, March 22.
The organizers symbolically decided to hold Forum events at three different venues in the same river basin, in order to promote all aspects of water conservation, as well as strengthening the cooperation among residents, governments, the business community, and nongovernmental organizations.
Lake Biwa and the Yodo River basin, where Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka are placed, have long developed as the center of the country's culture and economy. Kyoto was the capital of feudal Japan for 1,000 years.
The water in Kibale, Uganda is polluted or too expensive for the average family. (Photo courtesy ICCF Holland) At the opening ceremony Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco said, "This 3rd Forum should be regarded as a place for sharing and regenerating ideas which will enable us to discard sector based water management practices, and adopt, clearly, an integrated multi-dimensional approach which covers all political, economic, financial, technical, social and cultural aspects . There are many complex problems to be solved. According to a report released earlier this month by the World Water Assessment Programme, over the next 20 years the world's population will increase from six billion to an estimated 7.2 billion, while the average supply of water per person is expected to drop by one-third.
Presently, the World Water Council estimates that 1.4 billion people in the world do not have access to safe water, and 2.3 billion people lack adequate sanitation.
Daily use per inhabitant totals 600 liters (158 gallons) in residential areas of North America and Japan, and between 250 and 350 liters (66 and 92 gallons) in Europe, while daily water use per inhabitant in sub-Saharan Africa averages just 10 to 20 liters (2.64 to 5.28 gallons).
However, "the dream of pure water for all is within the reach of humanity," says Michel Camdessus, chairman of the World Panel on Financing Global Water Infrastructure, and former managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
"Financial flows will need to at least double for us to reach this goal by 2025," said Camdessus. "They will have to come from financial markets, from water authorities themselves through tariffs, from multilateral financial institutions, from governments, and from public development aid, preferably in the form of grants."
Current levels of clean water financing in developing and transitional countries is estimated at $80 billion annually.
Based on data for the period 1950 to 1998, the number of major flood disasters worldwide has grown from decade to decade - six major floods in the 1950s, seven in the 1960s, eight in the 1970s, 18 in the 1980s, and 26 in the 1990s.
The number of significant floods disasters in the 1990s was higher than in the previous three decades combined. Floods in the period from 1991 to 1995 affected more than 1.5 billion people worldwide. This total includes 318,000 killed, according to the International Red Cross. In the most calamitous storm surge, the flood in Bangladesh in April 1991 killed 140,000 people.
Two floods in China, one in 1996 and the second in 1998, caused the highest material losses of the decade, of the order of $30 billion and $26.5 billion respectively.
Nane Annan, wife of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, addresses the 3rd World Water Forum. (Photo courtesy Leila Mead/IISD) There is a disparity in how national economies are impacted by extreme events. According the World Bank, the 2000 Mozambique flood resulted in a 45 percent drop in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), whereas in Germany, the 2002 flood is estimated to have caused less than a one percent drop in GDP. The majority of the world's worst floods occurred in Asian countries, but few nations of the world are free of flood danger, as demonstrated by the unprecedented floods in 2002 in Europe. Even countries located in dry areas have not been safe from floods.
Droughts are becoming more severe and widespread, says the World Water Council. A direct consequence of drought is crop loss that can, in turn, cause starvation among humans.
Indirectly, water shortage contributes to the proliferation of diseases, without water for hygiene. Up to 45 percent of reported deaths from natural disasters between 1992 and 2001 resulted from droughts and famines. The most vulnerable communities are impoverished peoples occupying marginal rural and urban environments.
Sea level rise, due to melting of the polar ice caps as the global climate warms, is a concern in coastal and low lying areas, including small islands. In addition to coastal flooding, saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers presents a threat to water supplies. The average global sea level from 1990 to the year 2100 is expected to be 0.48 meters (19 inches), between twice and four times the rate of rise over the 20th century. The main effect on humans will be to confront extreme events such as storm surges.
But there are also signs of hope. "There is growing evidence that precautionary designs, disaster preparedness, mitigation measures and adaptation of lifestyles can have a huge impact on both saving lives and preserving economic assets," says Cosgrove. The Red Cross estimates that every dollar spent on protection from natural disasters can save from four to 10 dollars in relief costs.
For example, while the 1991 cyclone and associated storm surge in Bangladesh claimed 140,000 lives, the death toll dropped to less than 200 in similar cyclones in 2001 and 2002, after the government took disaster preparedness measures.
The Netherlands is another case in point. After hundreds of years of experience in battling the elements and fortifying its defense system against water, the government is now working on a new policy, called Give Water Space. It designates certain areas that will be submerged when rivers cannot handle the amount of water increases after extreme rainfall. This would replace past Dutch policy of relying solely on the construction of ever higher dikes.
The opening ceremony of the 3rd World Water Forum on Sunday in the Kyoto International Conference Hall was followed by the presentation of the winners of the 2003 inaugural Hassan II Great World Water Prize.
Dr. Mahmoud Abu-Zeid (Photo courtesy World Water Council) The winners are Dr. Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, Eygptian minister of water resources and irrigation, who also serves as president of the World Water Council, and Dr. Jerson Kelman, director president of Agencia Nacional de Aguas of Brazil. The Hassan II prize, including a trophy, a certificate and a sum of US$100,000, is a joint initiative of the World Water Council and the Kingdom of Morocco, to recognize outstanding achievements in handling of water resources. The theme for the inaugural prize is cooperation and solidarity in management and development in water resources.
The opening sessions of the Forum focused on Water and Climate; Water and Energy; Water Supply, Sanitation, Hygiene and Water Pollution; and Water and Cultural Diversity. Today's sessions are covering Water, Food and Environment; Water, Nature and Environment; Water and Transport; and Gender and Water. News You Can Use Enliven your website or paper with ENS News.
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