The world is far off meeting its growing water needs. Can the UN still lead the response?
The 2026 UN Water Conference can still have a big impact this year – if it can discuss water action as critical to human wellbeing and economic activity and focus on pragmatic solutions.
By Leslie Morris-Iveson and Richard King, Environment and Society Centre.
Drastic changes to the hydrological cycle and longstanding water management problems continue to create havoc around the world this year. In January a UN report declared an era of global water bankruptcy. A prolonged drought has contributed to unprecedented water shortages in Iran. And in Mozambique, the worst floods in recent memory have created a humanitarian crisis, destroying crops, livelihoods and infrastructure and displacing 650,000 people.
The global economy’s thirst for water – the world’s most finite, but underpriced and undervalued resource – is growing, as water-intensive products cross borders in ever greater volumes. The water use associated with trade in food and agricultural products nearly trebled between 1986 and 2022.
