Water crisis could cost the world 8% of GDP and more than 50% of food production

A report by the Global Commission on the Water Economy (GCEW) released on October 17 highlighted dire warnings about the current water crisis.

GCEW believes that people are underestimating the value of water for the economy and ecosystem protection. (Source: PUB)

According to GCEW, the water crisis threatens more than half of food production and will cause global GDP to fall by an average of 8% by 2050, with low-income countries likely to suffer losses of up to 15%.

Today, nearly 3 billion people and more than 50% of the world’s food production live in areas that are drought-stricken or have unstable water supplies. Half of the world’s population is facing water shortages, some 2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 3.6 billion lack basic sanitation services. Worse, every day, up to 1,000 children die due to lack of clean water.

“Today, half of the world’s population is facing water shortages. As this essential resource becomes increasingly scarce, food security and human development will be threatened,” said Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

GCEW believes that humans are underestimating the vital value of water for the economy and ecosystem protection, leading to wasteful use of this resource in many industries and putting activities such as farming at risk of water shortages.

Ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Co-Chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, sees the global water crisis as “a tragedy but also an opportunity to transform the water economy – starting with properly valuing water”.

According to GCEW, each person needs 50-100 liters of water per day to meet basic health and hygiene needs, but to meet a nutritious life, each person needs at least 4,000 liters of water per day.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/khu-ng-hoa-ng-nuoc-khien-the-gioi-co-the-mat-8-gdp-va-hon-50-san-luong-luong-thuc-290583.html