23 March 2018•Update: 23 March 2018
By Betul Yuruk
NEW YORK
The U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned about the global water crisis Thursday, saying ‘water scarcity is an enormous concern”.
“With the demand for freshwater projected to grow by more than 40 by the middle of the century, and with climate change having a growing impact, water scarcity is an enormous concern,” Guterres said at the launch of the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development.
The decade, which was launched on the occasion of World Water Day, will run between 2018 and 2028.
The U.N. chief said that one in four people would live in countries where the lack of fresh water will be chronic or recurrent by 2050.
“We cannot peace – or our precious and fragile water resources -- for granted,” the U.N. chief said: “Today, 40 of the world’s people are affected by water scarcity; 80 of wastewater is discharged untreated into the environment, and more than 90 of disasters are water-related.”
“More than two billion people lack access to safe water, and more than 4.5 billion people lack adequate sanitation services,” he added.
