The Water Challenge: sharing a precious commodity
Watermanagement needs urgent reform if the world is to head off serious
deterioration in the quality and quantity of water available.
This is the key message of a major new report -
target=”_blank”>Meeting the Water Reform
Challenge - released this week by the
OECD’s Secretary-General, Angel Gurría, who warned “Without
major policy changes, we risk high costs to economic growth, human
health, and the environment.”
The
target=”_blank”>report highlights the challenges posed by
increasingly rapid urbanisation, population growth and changing
economic dynamics for managing water supply. With water demand
projected to increase by 55% by 2050, there will be increased
competition for it. By that time, 3.9 billion people - more than
40% of the world’s population - are likely to be living in river
basins facing severe water stress.
More than 240 million people (most of them in rural areas) are
projected to lack access to an improved water source by 2050, and
almost 1.4 billion people will not have access to basic sanitation.
In addition, increased flows ofSource: The Environmental Outlook
Baseline,output from IMAGE suite of models.harming human health and
the environment.
Addressing these challenges requires strong government
responses. Water policies need to place quantity and quality on an
equal footing. Efficient use of water is essential, and pricing it
properly can discourage waste.
“With sustainable financing, effective
governance and coherent policies, governments can harness
water’s potential. Economic instruments like tariffs, taxes and
transfers - the 3Ts - are powerful tools to ensure an efficient use
of water.” OECD
Economic instruments such as water markets can help to achieve
this in a flexible way. Linking wastewater collection and treatment
systems will be essential to safeguard and improve water
quality.
And governments will have a key role to play in encouraging the
innovation and investment needed to build green water
infrastructure.
The question of sustainable financing for water supply and
sanitation should remain at the forefront of international
discussions on water.
The report illustrates how governments can benefit from
strategic financial planning and a combination of the 3Ts (tariffs,
taxes, transfers) to close the gap between available public and
private financing and investment needs. Progress towards the
Millennium Development Goals and subsequent international
arrangements depend critically on getting sustainable financing in
place.
The report also focuses on the importance of effective
governance across levels of government and across jurisdictions for
ensuring sustainable water reforms. Because policies seemingly
unrelated to water can have an adverse impact on its use,
governments should pay closer attention to the way in which their
water, energy, agriculture and environment policies interact.
Global water demand:
Baseline scenario, 2000 and 2050
Source: The
Environmental Outlook Baseline,output from IMAGE suite of
models.
Unravelling historical and political legacies is an essential
first step to breaking down the barriers to more coherent policies.
Experience shows, for example, that reform of agricultural support
can encourage more efficient water use through changes in farming
techniques and crop patterns.
The Secretary-General will outline further responses to water
reform challenges at an OECD side event on Tuesday 13 March at
13:15 during the
target=”_blank”>World Water Forum in Marseille.
To obtain a copy of
target=”_blank”>Meeting the Water Reform
Challenge or
target=”_blank”>OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 please
e-mail target=”_blank”>news.contact@oecd.org.
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