The Water Action Decade (2018-2028) began yesterday, on World Water Day. It’s no news to anyone, I believe, that the world will experience a serious drinking water crisis if citizens don’t start acting consciously. Some simple actions can make a big difference: protecting nature, reducing pollution, and using water responsibly. However, more recent data from the UN can help boost the sense of urgency on this issue:
- 2.4 billion people do not have basic sanitation;
- At least 1.8 billion people in the world use a source of drinking water contaminated by feces;
- More than 80% of water resulting from human activities is discharged into rivers or seas, without any prior treatment;
- Since 1990, 2.6 billion people have gained access to drinking water sources, but 663 million people still live without it;
- Every day, almost 1,000 children die from water and sanitation-related illnesses that could have been prevented.
The proposal of the action is to change this scenario by 2030. China, Finland, Israel, Japan, Singapore and Tajikistan have already started to develop strategies for more sustainable water consumption and to rehabilitate nature. It’s worth encouraging the development of high technology for irrigation in the countryside, planting trees, talking to those around us about doing something good now, so that children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren can have good living conditions. Let’s do our part?