Facts and figures

Fresh water is a valuable resource that we should take care of, especially now, as it becomes more and more scarce. For you to learn more about the current state of the water resources, their use and management worldwide, we found and listed below some interesting facts concerning this topic.

Water and Climate Change:

• With the existing climate change scenario, by 2030, water scarcity in some arid and semi-arid places will displace between 24 million and 700 million people. (UNCCD)
• 90% of all natural disasters are water-related. (UNISDR)
• Since 1900, more than 11 million people have died as a consequence of drought and more than 2 billion have been affected by drought, more than any other physical hazard. (FAO)
• By 2050, rising populations in floodprone lands, climate change, deforestation, loss of wetlands and rising sea levels are expected to increase the number of people vulnerable to flood disaster to 2 billion. (UNESCO, 2012)

Water and Sanitation:

• Half of the world's hospital beds are filled with people suffering from a water-related disease.
• Globally, water scarcity already affects 4 out of every 10 people. A lack of water and poor water quality increases the risk of diarrhoea, which kills approximately 2.2 million people every year, as well as trachoma, an eye infection that can lead to blindness, and many other illnesses. (WHO)
• Between 1900 and 2007, water-related disasters outnumbered all other types of disasters combined. (UNESCO, 2009)
• Naturally occurring arsenic pollution in groundwater now affects nearly 140 million people in 70 countries on all continents. (UNESCO, 2009)
• The human right to sanitation was explicitly recognized as a distinct right by the UN General Assembly in 2015. (UN, 2016)

Wastewater:

• Over 80% of global wastewater is released untreated back into nature, causing detrimental impacts on water supplies, human health, the economy and the environment.

Water and Biodiversity:

• 33 of the world’s 105 largest cities derive their drinking water from catchments within forest protected areas such as national parks and reserves.
• We lose wetlands three time faster than natural forests (Ramsar)
• Wetland-dependent species are in serious decline. Since 1970, declines have affected 81% of inland wetland species populations and 36% of coastal and marine species. (Ramsar)
• Ecosystems across the world, particularly wetlands, are in decline in terms of the services they provide. Between US$4.3 and US$20.2 trillion per year worth of ecosystem services were lost between 1997 and 2011 due to land use change. (Constanza et al. 2014)
• An estimated 20% of the world’s aquifers is being over-exploited leading to serious consequences such as land subsidence and saltwater intrusion. (Gleeson et al. 2012)

Water and Gender:

• Women and girls are responsible for water collection in 7 out of 10 households in 45 developing countries.
• Women are the main domestic, farming and health care water users worldwide – they manage up to 70% of water use.
• More than 22 years after the Dublin principles, a survey of 65 countries conducted by IUCN’s Global Gender Office in 2013 showed that only 15% of countries had a gender policy in their water ministry, and only 35% of countries had included gender considerations in their water-related policies and programmes.
• Although farmers tend to be referred to as men, women now make up around 43% of agricultural workers in developing countries, and they grow more than half of the world’s food. (Women as change-makers in the governance of shared waters)

Water and Infrastructure:

• Agriculture accounts for 70% of global water withdrawal. (FAO)
• Roughly 75% of all industrial water withdrawals are used for energy production. (UNESCO, 2014)
• 90% of global power generation is water-intensive. (UNESCO, 2014)
• Power plant cooling is responsible for 43% of total freshwater withdrawals in Europe (more than 50% in several countries), nearly 50% in the United States of America, and more than 10% of the national water cap in China. (UNESCO, 2014)
• By 2035, water withdrawals for energy production could increase by 20% and consumption by 85%, driven via a shift towards higher efficiency power plants with more advanced cooling systems (that reduce water withdrawals but increase consumption) and increased production of biofuel. (UNESCO, 2014)
• There is clear evidence that groundwater supplies are diminishing, with an estimated 20% of the world’s aquifers being over-exploited, some critically so. Deterioration of wetlands worldwide is reducing the capacity of ecosystems to purify water. (UNESCO, 2014)
• It typically takes 3,000 – 5,000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of rice, 2,000 litres for 1kg of soya, 900 litres for 1kg of wheat and 500 litres for 1kg of potatoes. (WWF).

Water and Governance:

• The human right to safe drinking water was first recognized by the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council as part of binding international law in 2010. (UN, 2010)

Water and Economics:

• Overall, annual economic losses from weather-related disasters are estimated at between US$ 250 billion and US$ 300 billion. (UNISDR)
• Ecosystem valuation has demonstrated that benefits far exceed costs of water-related investments in ecosystem conservation. The 2011 economic value of ecosystem services has been globally estimated at US$124.8 trillion. Global GDP was estimated at US$75.2 trillion in the same year. (Constanza et al. 2014).