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	Climate change indicators reached record levels in 2023 by WMO, NASA, EU Copernicus Climate Service   Mar. 2024   State of Global Climate report: Climate change indicators reach record levels: WMO   A new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) shows that records were once again broken, and in some cases smashed, for greenhouse gas levels, surface temperatures, ocean heat and acidification, sea level rise, Antarctic sea ice cover and glacier retreat.   Heatwaves, floods, droughts, wildfires and rapidly intensifying tropical cyclones caused misery and mayhem, upending every-day life for millions and inflicting many billions of dollars in economic losses, according to the WMO State of the Global Climate 2023 report.   The WMO report confirmed that 2023 was the warmest year on record, with the global average near-surface temperature at 1.45 °Celsius (with a margin of uncertainty of ± 0.12 °C) above the pre-industrial baseline. It was the warmest ten-year period on record.   “Sirens are blaring across all major indicators... Some records aren’t just chart-topping, they’re chart-busting. And changes are speeding-up.” said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.   “Never have we been so close to the 1.5° C lower limit of the Paris Agreement on climate change.” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. “The WMO community is sounding the Red Alert to the world.”   “Climate change is about much more than temperatures. What we witnessed in 2023, especially with the unprecedented ocean warmth, glacier retreat and Antarctic sea ice loss, is cause for particular concern,” she said.   On an average day in 2023, nearly one third of the global ocean was gripped by a marine heatwave, harming vital ecosystems and food systems. Towards the end of 2023, over 90% of the ocean had experienced heatwave conditions at some point during the year.   The global set of reference glaciers suffered the largest loss of ice on record (since 1950), driven by extreme melt in both western North America and Europe, according to preliminary data.   Antarctic sea ice extent was by far the lowest on record, with the maximum extent at the end of winter at 1 million km2 below the previous record year - equivalent to the size of France and Germany combined.   “The climate crisis is THE defining challenge that humanity faces and is closely intertwined with the inequality crisis – as witnessed by growing food insecurity and population displacement, and biodiversity loss” said Celeste Saulo.   The number of people who are acutely food insecure worldwide has more than doubled, from 149 million people before the COVID-19 pandemic to 333 million people in 2023 (in 78 monitored countries by the World Food Programme). Weather and climate extremes may not be the root cause, but they are aggravating factors, according to the report.   Weather hazards continued to trigger displacement in 2023, showing how climate shocks undermine resilience and create new protection risks among the most vulnerable populations.   There is, however, a glimmer of hope. Renewable energy generation, primarily driven by the dynamic forces of solar radiation, wind and the water cycle, has surged to the forefront of climate action for its potential to achieve decarbonization targets. In 2023, renewable capacity additions increased by almost 50% from 2022, for a total of 510 gigawatts (GW) – the highest rate observed in the past two decades.   Greenhouse gases   Observed concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide – reached record levels in 2022. Real-time data from specific locations show a continued increase in 2023.   CO2 levels are 50 % higher than the pre-industrial era, trapping heat in the atmosphere. The long lifetime of CO2 means that temperatures will continue to rise for many years to come.   Temperature   The global mean near-surface temperature in 2023 was 1.45°C above the pre-industrial 1850–1900 average. 2023 was the warmest year in the 174-year observational record.   Globally, every month from June to December was record warm for the respective month. September 2023 was particularly noteworthy, surpassing the previous global record for September by a wide margin (0.46 to 0.54 °C).   The long-term increase in global temperature is due to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The shift from La Nina to El Nino conditions in the middle of 2023 contributed to the rapid rise in temperature from 2022 to 2023.   Global average sea-surface temperatures were at a record high from April onwards, with the records in July, August and September broken by a particularly wide margin. Exceptional warmth was recorded in the eastern North Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, the North Pacific and large areas of the Southern Ocean, with widespread marine heatwaves.   Ocean heat content reached its highest level in 2023, according to a consolidated analysis of data. Warming rates show a particularly strong increase in the past two decades. It is expected that warming will continue – a change which is irreversible on scales of hundreds to thousands of years.   More frequent and intense marine heatwaves have profound negative repercussions for marine ecosystems and coral reefs.   Sea level rise   In 2023, global mean sea level reached a record high in the satellite record (since 1993), reflecting continued ocean warming (thermal expansion) as well as the melting of glaciers and ice sheets.   The rate of global mean sea level rise in the past ten years (2014–2023) is more than twice the rate of sea level rise in the first decade of the satellite record (1993–2002).   Extreme weather and climate events   Extreme weather and climate events had major socio-economic impacts on all inhabited continents. These included major floods, tropical cyclones, extreme heat and drought, and associated wildfires.   Flooding linked to extreme rainfall from Mediterranean Cyclone Daniel affected Greece, Bulgaria, Türkiye, and Libya with particularly heavy loss of life in Libya in September.   Tropical Cyclone Freddy in February and March was one of the world’s longest-lived tropical cyclones with major impacts on Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi.   Tropical Cyclone Mocha, in May, was one of the most intense cyclones ever observed in the Bay of Bengal and triggered 1.7 million displacements across the sub-region from Sri Lanka to Myanmar and through India and Bangladesh, and worsened acute food insecurity.   Hurricane Otis intensified to a maximum Category 5 system in a matter of hours – one of the most rapid intensification rates in the satellite era. It hit the Mexican coastal resort of Acapulco on 24 October, causing economic losses estimated at around US$15 billion, and killing at least 47 people.   Extreme heat affected many parts of the world. Some of the most significant were in southern Europe and North Africa, especially in the second half of July. Temperatures in Italy reached 48.2 °C, and record-high temperatures were reported in Tunis (Tunisia) 49.0 °C, Agadir (Morocco) 50.4 °C and Algiers (Algeria) 49.2 °C.   Canada’s wildfire season was the worst on record. The total area burned nationally for the year was 14.9 million hectares, more than seven times the long-term average. The fires also led to severe smoke pollution, particularly in the heavily populated areas of eastern Canada and the north-eastern United States.   The deadliest single wildfire of the year was in Hawaii, with at least 100 deaths reported – the deadliest wildfire in the USA for more than 100 years – and estimated economic losses of US$5.6 billion.   The Greater Horn of Africa region, which had been experiencing long-term drought, suffered substantial flooding in 2023, particularly later in the year. The flooding displaced 1.8 million people across Ethiopia, Burundi, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia and Kenya in addition to the 3 million people displaced internally or across borders by the five consecutive seasons of drought in Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia.   Long-term drought persisted in north-western Africa and parts of the Iberian Peninsula, as well as parts of central and southwest Asia. It intensified in many parts of Central America and South America. In northern Argentina and Uruguay, rainfall from January to August was 20 to 50% below average, leading to crop losses and low water storage levels.   Weather and climate hazards exacerbated challenges with food security, population displacements and impacts on vulnerable populations. They continued to trigger new, prolonged, and secondary displacement and increased the vulnerability of many who were already uprooted by complex multi-causal situations of conflict and violence.   In southern Africa, for example, the passage of Cyclone Freddy in February 2023 affected Madagascar, Mozambique, southern Malawi, and Zimbabwe. Flooding submerged extensive agricultural areas and inflicted severe damage on crops and the economy.   http://wmo.int/news/media-centre/climate-change-indicators-reached-record-levels-2023-wmo http://climate.copernicus.eu/march-2024-10th-consecutive-record-warm-month-globally   Jan. 2024   NASA Analysis Confirms 2023 as Warmest Year on Record   Earth’s average surface temperature in 2023 was the warmest on record, according to an analysis by NASA. Global temperatures last year were around 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) above the average for NASA’s baseline period (1951-1980), scientists from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York reported.   “NASA and NOAA’s global temperature report confirms what billions of people around the world experienced last year; we are facing a climate crisis,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “From extreme heat, to wildfires, to rising sea levels, we can see our Earth is changing.   In 2023, hundreds of millions of people around the world experienced extreme heat, and each month from June through December set a global record for the respective month. July was the hottest month ever recorded. Overall, Earth was about 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit (or about 1.4 degrees Celsius) warmer in 2023 than the late 19th-century average, when modern record-keeping began.   “The exceptional warming that we’re experiencing is not something we’ve seen before in human history,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of GISS. “It’s driven primarily by our fossil fuel emissions, and we’re seeing the impacts in heat waves, intense rainfall, and coastal flooding.”   “The record-setting year of 2023 underscores the significance of urgent and continued actions to address climate change,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.   NASA assembles its temperature record using surface air temperature data collected from tens of thousands of meteorological stations, as well as sea surface temperature data acquired by ship- and buoy-based instruments. Independent analyses by NOAA and the Hadley Centre (part of the United Kingdom Met Office) concluded the global surface temperatures for 2023 were the highest since modern record-keeping began.   http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/152313/five-factors-to-explain-the-record-heat-in-2023 http://wmo.int/media/news/wmo-confirms-2023-smashes-global-temperature-record http://www.carbonbrief.org/state-of-the-climate-2024-off-to-a-record-warm-start/   Jan. 2024   2023 hottest year on record. (EU Copernicus Climate Service)   2023 has been confirmed as the hottest year on record surpassing 2016, the previous hottest year, by a large margin, according to a new report released by the European Union Copernicus Climate Change Service. The data for this record goes back to 1850.   Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus, said 2023 was an exceptional year "with climate records tumbling like dominoes."   July and August were Earth's two warmest months on record along with the Northern Hemisphere's summer season reaching new highs. December 2023 was the warmest December on record globally.   Analysis shows that 2023 was 1.48 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1850-1900 pre-industrial reference level with close to half of the days in 2023 surpassing the 1.5°C warming limit. Two days in November days that were more than 2°C warmer for the first time on record.   "Not only is 2023 the warmest year on record, it is also the first year with all days over 1°C warmer than the pre-industrial period. Temperatures during 2023 likely exceed those of any period in at least the last 100,000 years," Burgess said.   Since June, every month has been the world's hottest on record compared with the corresponding month in previous years. More than 200 days saw a new daily global temperature record for the time of year, according to Copernicus Climate Change Service data.   The world’s CO2 emissions from burning coal, oil and gas hit record levels in 2023. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere rose to the highest level recorded at 419 parts per million, C3S said.   "These are more than just statistics," says Prof Petteri Taalas, the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization between 2016 and 2023. "Extreme weather is destroying lives and livelihoods on a daily basis."   Countries agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement to try to prevent global warming surpassing 1.5C, to avoid its most severe consequences.   C3S said that temperatures exceeding the level on nearly half of the days of 2023 sets "a dire precedent".   Copernicus predicts that the 12-month period ending in January or February 2024 would "exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level".   “The extremes we have observed over the last few months provide a dramatic testimony of how far we now are from the climate in which our civilization developed,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus’ Climate Change Service. “This has profound consequences for the Paris Agreement and all human endeavors. If we want to manage climate risk we need to urgently decarbonize our economy.”   The global average temperature for 2023 was 14.98 degrees Celsius. The previous record was 14.81 degrees Celsius set in 2016.   According to the CCCS, the annual average air temperatures were the warmest on record, or close to the warmest, over the majority of ocean basins and continents around the world. Unprecedented high sea surface temperature were a critical driver of the extreme air temperature in 2023, according to the CCCS. Antarctic sea ice crashed to record lows.   2023 saw massive fires in Canada, extreme droughts in the Horn of Africa or the Middle East, unprecedented summer heatwaves in Europe, the United States and China, along with record winter warmth in Australia and South America.   "Such events will continue to get worse until we transition away from fossil fuels and reach net-zero emissions," says University of Reading climate change professor Ed Hawkins. "We will continue to suffer the consequences of our inactions today for generations."   Prof Brian Hoskins, at Imperial College London, said: “2023 has given us a taste of the climate extremes that occur near the Paris targets. It should shake the complacency displayed in the actions by most governments around the world.”   "We desperately need to rapidly cut fossil fuel use and reach net-zero to preserve the liveable climate that we all depend on," said John Marsham, atmospheric science professor at the University of Leeds.   Each fraction of temperature increase exacerbates extreme and destructive weather disasters.   http://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-2023-hottest-year-record http://climate.copernicus.eu/global-climate-highlights-2023 http://climate.copernicus.eu/weve-lost-19-years-battle-against-global-warming-paris-agreement
	Unite to protect and conserve our most precious resource - water by UN Water, IFRC, Oxfam, agencies   Oct. 2024   Global water crisis leaves half of world food production at risk in next 25 years.   More than half the world’s food production will be at risk of failure within the next 25 years as a rapidly accelerating water crisis grips the planet, unless urgent action is taken to conserve water resources and end the destruction of the ecosystems on which our fresh water depends, experts have warned in a landmark review.   Half the world’s population already faces water scarcity, and that number is set to rise as the climate crisis worsens, according to a report from the Global Commission on the Economics of Water.   Demand for fresh water will outstrip supply by 40% by the end of the decade, because the world’s water systems are being put under “unprecedented stress”, the report found.   The report found that water moves around the world in “atmospheric rivers” which transport moisture from one region to another.   About half the world’s rainfall over land comes from healthy vegetation in ecosystems that transpires water back into the atmosphere and generates clouds that then move downwind.   China and Russia are the main beneficiaries of these “atmospheric river” systems, while India and Brazil are the major exporters, as their landmass supports the flow of green water to other regions. Between 40% and 60% of the source of fresh water rainfall is generated from neighbouring land use.   “The Chinese economy depends on sustainable forest management in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the Baltic region,” said Prof Johan Rockstrom, the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and one of the co-chairs of the commission. “You can make the same case for Brazil supplying fresh water to Argentina. This interconnectedness just shows that we have to place fresh water in the global economy as a global common good.”   Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the president of Singapore and a co-chair of the commission, said countries must start cooperating on the management of water resources before it was too late.   “We have to think radically about how we are going to preserve the sources of fresh water, how we are going to use it far more efficiently, and how we are going to be able to have access to fresh water available to every community, including the vulnerable – in other words, how we preserve equity between rich and poor,” Shanmugaratnam said.   The Global Commission on the Economics of Water draws on the work of dozens of leading scientists and economists, to form a comprehensive view of the state of global hydrological systems and how they are managed. Its 194-page report is the biggest global study to examine all aspects of the water crisis.   The findings were surprisingly stark, said Rockstrom. “Water is victim number one of the climate crisis, the environmental changes we see now aggregating at the global level, putting the entire stability of earth’s systems at risk,” he told the Guardian.   “The climate crisis manifests itself first and foremost in droughts and floods. When you think of heatwaves and fires, the really hard impacts are via moisture – in the case of fires, global heating first dries out landscapes so that they burn.”   The destruction of nature is also further fuelling the crisis, because cutting down forests and draining wetlands disrupts the hydrological cycle that depends on transpiration from trees and the storage of water in soils.   Harmful subsidies are also distorting the world’s water systems, and must be addressed as a priority, the experts found. More than $700bn of subsidies each year go to agriculture, and a high proportion of these are misdirected, encouraging farmers to use more water than they need for irrigation or in wasteful practices. Industry also benefits – about 80% of the wastewater used by industries around the world is not recycled.   Developing countries must also be given access to the finance they need to overhaul their water systems, provide safe water and sanitation, and halt the destruction of the natural environment, the report found.   Five main takeaways from the report   The world has a water crisis   More than 2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 3.6 billion people – 44% of the population – lack access to safe sanitation. Every day, 1,000 children die from lack of access to safe water. Demand for fresh water is expected to outstrip its supply by 40% by the end of this decade.   This crisis is worsening – without action, by 2050 water problems will shave about 8% off global GDP, with poor countries facing a 15% loss. Over half of the world’s food production comes from areas experiencing unstable trends in water availability.   There is no coordinated global effort to address this crisis   Despite the interconnectedness of global water systems there are no global governance structures for water. The UN has held only one water conference in the past 50 years, and only last month appointed a special envoy for water.   Climate breakdown is intensifying water scarcity   The impacts of the climate crisis are felt first on the world’s hydrological systems, and in some regions those systems are facing severe disruption or even collapse. Drought in the Amazon, floods across Europe and Asia, and glacier melt in mountains, which causes both flooding and droughts downstream, are all examples of the impacts of extreme weather that are likely to get worse in the near future.   People’s overuse of water is also worsening the climate crisis – for instance, by draining carbon-rich peatlands and wetlands that then release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.   Water is artificially cheap for some and too expensive for others   Subsidies to agriculture around the world often have unintended consequences for water, providing perverse incentives for farmers to over-irrigate their crops or use water wastefully. Industries also have their water use subsidised, or their pollution ignored, in many countries.   Meanwhile, poor people in developing countries frequently pay a high price for water, or can only access dirty sources. Realistic pricing for water that removes harmful subsidies but protects the poor must be a priority for governments.   Water is a common good   All of human life depends on water, but it is not recognised for the indispensable resource it is. The authors of the report urge a rethink of how water is regarded – not as an endlessly renewable resource, but as a global common good, with a global water pact by governments to ensure they protect water sources and create a “circular economy” for water in which it is reused and pollution cleaned up.   Developing nations must be given access to finance to help them end the destruction of natural ecosystems that are a key part of the hydrological cycle.   http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/16/global-water-crisis-food-production-at-risk http://watercommission.org/#report http://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/06/climate-crisis-wreaking-havoc-on-earths-water-cycle-report-finds http://www.globalwater.online/globalwater/report/index.html   Oct. 2024   Water must be managed as a common good and made accessible to all. (OHCHR)   Aquatic ecosystems and the water we extract from them must be considered and managed in the public domain, as commons, accessible to all but not appropriable by anyone, an independent UN expert said.   In his report to the 57th UN Human Rights Council session, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation, argued for differentiating the water necessary to sustain life from water used for economic purposes, setting priorities, and establishing specific management criteria.   “What is the monetary value of the water needed to ensure the health of your families? Is the value of the water needed to grow avocados for export even comparable to the value needed to protect public health?” he asked.   The expert said considering water as a commodity that should be managed according to the logic of the market was wrong. “From this approach, access, use and benefit from water depend on the ability to pay according to supply and demand, and access to information and management are left in the hands of corporations. This is inconsistent with a human rights-based approach to water management."   The Special Rapporteur said water on which populations depend and the aquatic ecosystems from which they draw must be managed with a common, human rights-based approach that guarantees non-discrimination, equal participation, transparency and accountability.   “These ecosystems are common natural heritage, and their sustainability should be ensured for the benefit of everyone, including future generations,” he said.   The Special Rapporteur urged governments to advance towards agreements and institutions that could articulate a shared responsibility at the global level to address the climate crisis and care for the water cycle as a global common good. “It is a democratic challenge that States must take up to realise the human rights to water and sanitation,” he said.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/09/water-must-be-managed-common-good-and-made-accessible-all-un-expert http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/10/addressing-global-water-and-food-crisis-crucial-human-rights-says-special http://www.wri.org/insights/growing-water-risks-food-crops   Oct. 2024   WMO report highlights growing shortfalls and stress in global water resources.   The year 2023 marked the driest year for global rivers in over three decades, according to a new report coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which signaled critical changes in water availability in an era of growing demand.   The last five consecutive years have recorded widespread below-normal conditions for river flows, with reservoir inflows following a similar pattern. This reduces the amount of water available for communities, agriculture and ecosystems, further stressing global water supplies, according to the State of Global Water Resources report.   Glaciers suffered the largest mass loss ever registered in the last five decades. 2023 is the second consecutive year in which all regions in the world with glaciers reported iceloss.   With 2023 being the hottest year on record, elevated temperatures and widespread dry conditions contributed to prolonged droughts. But there were also a significant number of floods around the world. The extreme hydrological events were influenced by naturally occurring climate conditions – the transition from La Nina to El Nino in mid-2023 – as well as human induced climate change.   “Water is the canary in the coalmine of climate change. We receive distress signals in the form of increasingly extreme rainfall, floods and droughts which wreak a heavy toll on lives, ecosystems and economies. Melting ice and glaciers threaten long-term water security for many millions of people. And yet we are not taking the necessary urgent action,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.   “As a result of rising temperatures, the hydrological cycle has accelerated. It has also become more erratic and unpredictable, and we are facing growing problems of either too much or too little water. A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture which is conducive to heavy rainfall. More rapid evaporation and drying of soils worsen drought conditions,” she said.   “And yet, far too little is known about the true state of the world’s freshwater resources. We cannot manage what we do not measure. This report seeks to contribute to improved monitoring, data-sharing, cross-border collaboration and assessments,” said Celeste Saulo. “This is urgently needed.”   The State of Global Water Resources report series offers a comprehensive and consistent overview of water resources worldwide. It is based on input from dozens of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and other organizations and experts. It seeks to inform decision makers in water-sensitive sectors and disaster risk reduction professionals. It complements WMO’s flagship State of the Global Climate series.   Hydrological extremes   The year 2023 was the hottest year on record. The transition from La Nina to El Nino conditions in mid-2023, as well as the positive phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) influenced extreme weather.   Africa was the most impacted in terms of human casualties. In Libya, two dams collapsed due to a major flood in September 2023, claiming more than 11,000 lives and affecting 22% of the population. Floods also affected the Greater Horn of Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Mozambique and Malawi.   Southern USA, Central America, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Brazil were affected by widespread drought conditions, which led to 3% gross domestic product loss in Argentina and lowest water levels ever observed in Amazon and in Lake Titicaca.   River discharge   The year 2023 was marked by mostly drier-than-normal to normal river discharge conditions compared to the historical period. Similar to 2022 and 2021, over 50% of global catchment areas showed abnormal conditions, with most of them being in deficit. Fewer basins showed above normal conditions.   Large territories of Northern, Central and South America suffered severe drought and reduced river discharge conditions in 2023. The Mississippi and Amazon basins saw record low water levels. In Asia and Oceania, the large Ganges, Brahmaputra and Mekongriver basins experienced lower-than-normal conditions almost over the entire basin territories.   Soil moisture and evapotranspiration   Levels of soil moisture were predominantly below or much below normal across large territories globally, with North America, South America, North Africa, and the Middle East particularly dry during June-August. Central and South America, especially Brazil and Argentina, faced much below-normal actual evapotranspiration in September-October-November. For Mexico, this lasted almost the entire year because of drought conditions.   http://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-report-highlights-growing-shortfalls-and-stress-global-water-resources http://wmo.int/news/media-centre/united-science-reboot-climate-action http://interconnectedrisks.org/tipping-points/groundwater-depletion http://interconnectedrisks.org/tipping-points/mountain-glacier-melting   When water is scarce or polluted, or when people have unequal, or no access, tensions can rise between communities and countries.   More than 3 billion people worldwide depend on water that crosses national borders. Yet, only 24 countries have cooperation agreements for all their shared water.   As climate change impacts increase, and populations grow, there is an urgent need, within and between countries, to unite around protecting and conserving our most precious resource.   Public health and prosperity, food and energy systems, economic productivity and environmental integrity all rely on a well-functioning and equitably managed water cycle.   The theme of World Water Day 2024 is ‘Water for Peace’. When we cooperate on water, we create a positive ripple effect – fostering harmony, generating prosperity and building resilience to shared challenges.   We must act upon the realization that water is not only a resource to be used and competed over – it is a human right, intrinsic to every aspect of life. This World Water Day, we all need to unite around water and use water for peace, laying the foundations of a more stable and prosperous tomorrow.   UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres message for World Water Day:   Action for water is action for peace. And today it is needed more than ever. Our world is in turbulent waters. Conflicts are raging, inequality is rife, pollution and biodiversity loss are rampant, and, as humanity continues to burn fossil fuels, the climate crisis is accelerating with a deadly force – further threatening peace.   Our planet is heating up – seas are rising, rains patterns are changing, and river flows are shrinking. That is resulting in droughts in some regions, and floods and coastal erosion in others. Meanwhile, pollution and overconsumption are imperiling the availability of fresh, clean, accessible water on which all life depends.   Dwindling supplies can increase competition and inflame tensions between people, communities, and countries. That is increasing the risk of conflict.   Water for peace is the theme of this year’s World Water Day. Achieving it relies on far greater cooperation. Today, 153 countries share water resources. Yet only twenty-four have reported cooperation agreements for all their shared water. We must accelerate efforts to work together across borders, and I urge all countries to join and implement the United Nations Water Convention – which promotes managing shared water resources sustainably.   Cooperating to safeguard water can power and sustain peace. Water stewardship can strengthen multilateralism and ties between communities, and build resilience to climate disasters.   It can also drive progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals – which are the foundation of peaceful societies – including by improving health, reducing poverty and inequality, and boosting food and water security. Let’s commit to work together, to make water a force for cooperation, harmony and stability, and so help to create a world of peace and prosperity for all.   Alvaro Lario, UN-Water Chair:   Today, we face a crisis that threatens global wellbeing and stability: 2.2 billion people still live without access to safe water and even more – 3.5 billion people – without safe toilets.   This World Water Day, we must unite around water to make it a tool for peace and a catalyst for progress.   We have just six years left to meet Sustainable Development Goal 6 – water and sanitation for all by 2030. We are dramatically off track.   We must urgently fix the water cycle. Our health and livelihoods, our food and energy, and the very ecosystem we exist within, all depend on it.   Our human rights to water and sanitation are the first line of defence against disease, disaster and destitution. As climate change impacts and populations grow, our cooperation on water will make or break us.   By working together on water, across borders and sectors, we can provide a model for solving all our shared challenges. Water has sustained us since the dawn of life. Now, it can lead us out of crisis. Let us work together to seize the opportunity. We have no time to lose.   http://www.un.org/en/observances/water-day http://www.unwater.org/publications/un-world-water-development-report http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/03/world-water-day http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5432-fulfilling-human-rights-those-living-poverty-and-restoring http://www.wateraid.org/media/World-1.5c-breach-marks-cataclysmic-failure-in-protecting-the-most-vulnerable http://interconnectedrisks.org/tipping-points/groundwater-depletion http://washmatters.wateraid.org/blog http://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/the-sanitation-circular-economy-rhetoric-vs-reality/ http://www.wri.org/insights/highest-water-stressed-countries http://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/increasing-nitrogen-input-could-pollute-water-supply-and-worsen-water-scarcity   Mar. 2024   Water for Peace. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)   Water is a basic human right and an essential element in maintaining our health and well-being. Still, hundreds of millions of people around the world lack access to safe water. On World Water Day, we join the call of those around the world working to ensure that all people have easy access to this essential ingredient to a safe, healthy and peaceful life.   Calamities such as earthquakes, floods, drought, conflict — even extreme cold weather — often put water out of reach for people, and the livestock and crops they rely on to survive.   Meanwhile, lack of access to clean water and proper sanitation too often results in the spread of infectious diseases such as cholera, diarrhea and E. Coli, among many others.   Water scarcity and insecurity, meanwhile, is increasing worldwide, and so is the recognition of its role as a potential multiplier of instability and conflict.   These are some of the reasons the theme of World Water Day 2024 is ‘Water for Peace.’ Access to wafe water is a game changer for community health, resilience and prosperity. It opens the door to healthier people, more secure food sources and more stable communities. We invite you to join us in working to ensure all people around the world have access to safe water and a healthy, peaceful future.   The IFRC works to ensure that people around the world have equitable, sustainable and affordable access to water, sanitation and hygiene services and knowledge (WASH).   We do so by supporting our 191 National Societies to deliver effective emergency, recovery and long-term WASH programmes. Collectively, we reach over 100 million people with quality water, sanitation and hygiene activities every year.   http://www.ifrc.org/get-involved/campaign-us/world-water-day http://www.ifrc.org/article/joint-statement-millions-risk-cholera-due-lack-clean-water-soap-and-toilets-and-shortage http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/press-releases/cholera-on-rise-new-analysis-finds-only-36-of-2023-world-water-needs-met/ http://www.unicef.org/stories/water-and-climate-change-10-things-you-should-know http://www.unicef.org/topics/water-sanitation-and-hygiene   Mar. 2024   Global water crisis looms yet only one in four of the biggest food and agriculture corporations say they’re reducing water use and pollution. (Oxfam International)   Only 28 percent of the world’s most influential food and agriculture corporations report they are reducing their water withdrawals and just 23 percent say they are taking action to reduce water pollution. Oxfam’s new analysis of 350 corporations using World Benchmarking Alliance data comes ahead of World Water Day (March 22).   The UN, which last year convened the first major conference on water in over 45 years, estimates that 2 billion people do not have safe drinking water, and up to 3 billion people experience water shortages for at least one month each year.   The 350 corporations analyzed account for more than half of the world’s food and agriculture revenue. 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawals are used for agriculture, which is by far the largest water-using sector worldwide. Industrial farming plays a major role in water pollution.   Oxfam’s analysis found that only 108 of these 350 corporations are disclosing the proportion of withdrawals from water-stressed areas.   “When big corporations pollute or consume huge amounts of water, communities pay the price in empty wells, more costly water bills, and contaminated and undrinkable water sources. Less water means more hunger, more disease and more people forced to leave their homes,” said Oxfam France Executive Director Cecile Duflot.   “We clearly can’t rely on corporations’ goodwill to change their practices —governments must force them to clean up their act, and protect shared public goods over thirst for profit,” said Duflot.   Water and wealth are inextricably linked. Rich people have better access to safe public drinking water —and money to buy expensive private water— while people living in poverty, who often don’t have access to a government-backed water source, spend significant portions of their income to purchase water.   The fast-growing bottled water industry is an example of how corporate giants commodify and exploit water, intensifying inequality, pollution and harm. According to the UN, the multi-billion-dollar bottled water industry is undermining progress toward the key Sustainable Development Goal (SDG6) of providing universal access to safe drinking water.   Rises in global temperatures will further reduce water availability in many water-scarce countries, including across East Africa and the Middle East, because of the increased frequency of droughts, and changes in rainfall patterns and run-off.   Oxfam has seen first-hand how people are facing the daily challenge of accessing safe water sources, spending countless hours queuing or trekking long distances, and suffering the health impacts of using contaminated water.   For example in Renk, a transit camp in South Sudan, more than 300 people are now sharing a single water tap, increasing the risk of cholera and other diseases. Oxfam warned last year that up to 90 percent of water boreholes in parts of Somalia, Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia had entirely dried up.   Oxfam is calling on governments to:   Recognize water as a human right and a public good. Profits should not be the priority when it comes to providing water services to people. Hold corporations accountable for abusing and violating human and environmental rights and laws, including water pollution.   Invest in water security, subsidized public water provision, sustainable water management and climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. National planning and policy around WASH must commit to women’s leadership, participation, and decision-making at all stages.   http://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/global-water-crisis-looms-yet-only-one-four-biggest-food-and-agriculture http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/inequalities/2024/12/11/global-water-insecurity/ http://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/water-dilemmas-the-cascading-impacts-of-water-insecurity-in-a-heating-world-621548/ http://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/unheard-water-stories-from-asia-africa-and-mena-elevating-local-voices-for-wate-621663   http://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/55/43 http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Water/annual-reports/a-76-159-friendly-version.pdf http://thepeopleswaterforum.org/2023/02/28/water-justice-manifesto/ http://unu.edu/article/how-bottled-water-industry-masking-global-water-crisis http://inweh.unu.edu/un-water-experts-the-world-is-off-track-to-meet-its-sustainable-water-goal-by-2030/ http://theconversation.com/ipcc-report-half-the-world-is-facing-water-scarcity-floods-and-dirty-water-large-investments-are-needed-for-effective-solutions-175578   http://peasantjournal.org/news/working-paper-series-international-conference-on-global-land-grabbing-bogota-colombia/ http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03066150.2024.2317961 http://www.nature.com/articles/s44221-024-00206-9 http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/blog/UN2023 http://gi-escr.org/en/our-work/on-the-ground/un-special-rapporteur-on-the-human-rights-to-safe-drinking-water http://gi-escr.org/en/our-work/on-the-ground/water-is-a-public-good-and-a-human-right http://tinyurl.com/52z8kxey http://rightlivelihood.org/news/maude-barlow-tackling-the-water-crisis-is-the-only-way-to-safeguard-people-and-the-planet/   http://waterwitness.org/news-events/2023/3/24/water-witness-comment-on-outcomes-of-un-water-conference http://waterwitness.org/news-events/2023/3/20/new-data-reveals-extent-of-global-north-reliance-on-unsustainable-water-sources http://grain.org/en/article/7039-squeezing-communities-dry-water-grabbing-by-the-global-food-industry http://www.fairplanet.org/story/the-plague-of-water-grabbing-and-its-consequences/ http://www.fian.org/en/publication/article/rights-to-water-and-sanitation-2735 http://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/covid-19-reveals-and-further-increases-inequalities-in-water-and-sanitation/   * IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: Chapter 4: Water. (2022)   Increases in physical water scarcity are projected, with estimates between 800 million and 3 billion for 2°C global warming and up to approximately 4 billion for 4°C global warming. Projected increases in hydrological extremes pose increasing risks to societal systems globally, with a potential doubling of flood risk between 1.5°C and 3°C of warming and an estimated 120–400% increase in population at risk of river flooding at 2°C and 4°C, respectively. Also projected are increasing risks of fatalities and socioeconomic impacts. Similarly, a near doubling of drought duration and an increasing share of the population affected by various types, durations and severity levels of drought are projected. Increasing return periods of high-end hydrological extremes pose significant challenges to adaptation..   Globally, agriculture is the largest user of water. Risks to agricultural yields due to combined effects of water and temperature changes, for example, could be three times higher at 3°C compared to 2°C, with additional risks as a consequence of increasing climate extremes. In addition, climate-driven water scarcity and increasing crop water demands, including for irrigation, pose additional challenges for agricultural production in many regions. Climate-induced changes in the global hydrological cycle are already impacting agriculture through floods, droughts and increased rainfall variability. Climate change will lead to populations becoming more vulnerable to floods and droughts due to an increase in the frequency, magnitude and total area affected by water-related disasters: http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/chapter/chapter-4/   http://wmo.int/news/media-centre/climate-change-indicators-reached-record-levels-2023-wmo Visit the related web page
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