Combating Desertification and Drought

Is Desalination an Answer to the Water Crisis?

By Doug Brown
On World Water Day, March 22, universal access to clean water continues to be a privilege, when it should be a right. Experts predict that by 2030 the global water demand will exceed supply by 40%.

We Must Take Care of Nature, Because Without Rain There Is No Fresh Water

By Mario Osava
Confidence in large rivers and giant aquifers plummeted in many parts of the world, in the face of the expansion of water crises after intense and prolonged droughts in the last decade.

Restoring U.S. Aid Crucial to Avoid a Water Catastrophe in Gaza

By Matthias Schmale
World Water Day (March 22) could not come at a more critical time for the people of Gaza who are facing a humanitarian catastrophe The recent decision by the United States to reduce funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), jeopardizes its role as a critical source of clean drinking water when Gaza’s supplies slow to a drip.

Why You Should Care About the Water Crisis

By Tim Wainwright
For the past weeks, many have been anxiously tracking the approach of Cape Town’s Day Zero: the day its taps will run dry. To everyone’s relief, current predictions are that careful conservation may stave off such a catastrophe in the coastal South African city until the rains arrive.

High and Dry: Can We Fix the World’s Water Crisis?

By Mxolisi Ncube
April 12 is expected to be the infamous “Day Zero” in South Africa’s second largest city of Cape Town, a tourist hub which attracts millions of visitors every year.

Balancing Green & Grey this World Water Day

By Torgny Holmgren
Going into World Water Day, I have an ambivalent feeling. This year’s theme The Answer is in Nature can sound almost like mockery considering how badly parts of the world have been hit in recent years due to water-related natural disasters, be it floods, storms or droughts.

How Nature Can Quench Our Thirst & Bring Water Back to Our Ecosystems

By Yeonju Jeong
Freshwater makes up only 2.5% of all water we have on earth. Readily accessible freshwater – which is found in rivers, lakes, wetlands and aquifers – accounts for less than one per cent of the world’s water supply. It is vital for the existence of nearly every species on earth.

Achieving Universal Access to Water and Sanitation

By Miroslav Lajčák
At the start of the seventy-second session of the General Assembly of the United Nations I emphasized our common goal: peace and a decent life for all people on a sustainable planet. Many leaders echoed this overarching priority at the general debate and beyond.

A Breath of Fresh Air in India

By Ranjit Devraj
With India’s citizens clamouring for breathable air and efficient energy options, the country’s planners are more receptive than ever to explore sustainable development options, says Frank Rijsberman, Director-General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).

Time to Resolve a Cursed Old Water Problem

By Vladimir Smakhtin
“You cannot manage what you do not measure” is a long-familiar saying to many, nowhere more so than in professional water circles at almost every level.

Will the Next War Be About Water?

By Ramu Damodaran
One of the first resolutions adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, on the location of the headquarters of the Organization, gives the United Nations “exclusive rights over the subsoil of land conveyed to it, and in particular the right to make constructions underground and to obtain therefrom supplies of water.”

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene: First Response in Conflicts & Natural Disasters

By Sanjay Wijesekera
When disaster strikes, or conflict rages, families soon discover their most urgent need - water. In such precarious situations, access is usually limited or non-existent, and children and their families are forced to put themselves in further danger in the quest for water.

World Water Day – Nature for Water

By IPS World Desk
The UN General Assembly will launch the International Decade for Action: Water for sustainable development (2018-2028) on World Water Day, 22 March 2018. According to UNGA President Miroslav Lajcak, outlining his priorities for 2018, the event will “contribute to the review of SDG 6” during the 2018 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

Water Scarcity: India’s Silent Crisis

By Neeta Lal
As Cape Town inches towards ‘Zero Hour’ set for July 15, 2018, the real threat of water scarcity is finally hitting millions of people worldwide. For on that day, the South African city's 3.78 million citizens -- rich and poor, young and old, men and women -- will be forced to queue up with their jerry cans at public outlets for their quota of 25 litres of water per day.

Water Stress Poses Greatest Threat to MENA Region

By Sopho Kharazi
This year, World Water Day, celebrated annually on 22 March, is themed “Nature for Water”, examining nature-based solutions (NBS) to the world’s water problems.

We Must Talk to Each Other to Solve Gender Inequality

By Monique Barbut
The international community agreed on the global Goal of achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment by 2030. But we can’t reach it – not even by 2050 – until we talk to each other, rather than past each other. If we are serious about empowering women and girls, we have to bridge the huge chasm that exists between the advocates of gender equality, on the one hand, and advocates of other Goals, on the other.

Forest Communities Join Forces to Fight Land Degradation in Mexico

By Emilio Godoy
Forest communities play a fundamental role in Mexico in combating land degradation, but they need more support to that end.

Three Things Cape Town Teaches Us About Managing Water

By Anton Earle and Johannes Ernstberger
Cape Town has always been water insecure. The city has done some things well to prepare for a situation like this, but if the drought has shown us something, it is that you need to get everything right and have some luck on top to get out unscathed when the unexpected actually happens.

Some of the World’s Biggest Lakes Are Drying Up. Here’s Why.

By Kenneth R. Weiss
Tire tracks stretched across the flat lake bed to the horizon. We followed them in a Suzuki 4x4, looking for clues about what’s happened to Poopó, once Bolivia’s second largest lake, which has vanished into the thin air of the Andean highlands.

Village Savings: Helping Small Farmers Weather Climate Shocks

By Friday Phiri
In the past, Lameck Sibukale only knew savings in the form of rearing chickens, goats and more importantly, cattle—a long cherished cultural heritage of the Tonga-speaking people of southern Zambia.

Climate-Related Disasters Cost Nearly $400 Billion in 2017

By Amina J. Mohammed
I am pleased to be with you at this important and timely summit on climate risk and to discuss the opportunities that are there for us to seize through decisive climate action.
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