The geography of future water challenges

A new publication authored by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, “The geography of future water challenges”, reveals that the Paris Agreement goals can’t be achieved without improved water management.

The report highlights the urgent need for an integrated approach to limiting climate—and water-related—risks globally. Using maps and infographics, “The geography of future water challenges” shows the water-related challenges of tomorrow, under a business-as-usual scenario.

Water is inextricably linked to sustainable developments and quality of life. The themes presented are food production, water quality, and human health, flood risk, energy, ecological quality, and the interaction between water and migration and possible conflict risks. Water-related challenges are shown to be increasing, over the coming decades, due to a combination of population growth, economic development, and climate change.

The report shows the urgent need for a coherent approach on a scale that is sufficiently large to cover the various problems, and underlines the importance of collaboration between public parties to initiate solutions. The global landscapes in the search for integrated solutions will be the dryland regions, cities, transboundary river basins, coastal zones, and deltas.

 

Map: Cities are a flood risk hotspot. By 2050, 70 per cent of the world population is projected to live in an urban environment. Between now and 2050, the economic damage and the number of people potentially exposed to flooding will increase, especially in the rapidly growing cities in the developing countries.

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The article first appeared on Climate Change Post and is a digest of a scientific report by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.