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In half the world’s countries one or more types of freshwater ecosystems are degraded, including rivers, lakes and aquifers. River flow has significantly decreased, surface water bodies are shrinking or being lost, ambient water is growing more polluted, and water management is off-track.
These are some of the findings of three reports tracking progress on freshwater, published last week by UN-Water and the UN Environment Program (UNEP).
The triennial series of reports is focused on progress towards achieving the goal of “clean water and sanitation for all” through protecting and restoring freshwater sources.
Based on greater data sets than ever before, the reports reiterate the call to scale up support for member states in tackling challenges through the UN System-wide strategy for water and sanitation and the accompanying upcoming Collaborative Implementation Plan.
“Our blue planet is being rapidly deprived of healthy freshwater bodies and resources, with dire prospects for food security, climate change and biodiversity,” said Dianna Kopansky, head of the Freshwater and Wetlands Unit, Ecosystems Division at UNEP.
“At this critical point, global political commitments for sustainable water management have never been higher, including through the passing of a water resolution at the last UN Environment Assembly in February, but they are not being matched by required finance or action,” she said.
“Protection and restoration policies, tailored for different regions, are halting further loss and show that reversing degradation is within reach. We absolutely need more of them.”
A reported 90 countries, most in Africa, Central- and Southeast Asia, are experiencing the degradation of one or more freshwater ecosystems. Other regions, such as Oceania, mark improvements. Pollution, dams, land conversion, over-abstraction and climate change contribute to degradation of freshwater ecosystems.
Influenced by climate change and land use, river flow has decreased in 402 basins worldwide―a fivefold increase since 2000. A much smaller number is gaining in river flow.
Loss of mangroves due to human activities (e.g., aquaculture and agriculture) poses a risk to coastal communities, freshwater resources, biodiversity, and climate due to their water filtration and carbon sequestering properties.
Significant decreases of mangroves were reported in Southeast Asia, though the overall net rate of deforestation has leveled off in the last decade.
(To be continued) UNEP News
