Drinking water, regional weakness

Latin America and the Caribbean agreed to create and implement a Regional action agenda for water, whose goal is to advance the fulfillment of Sustainable Development Goal 6, which seeks to guarantee the availability of water and its sustainable management and sanitation for all.

The agreement was concluded within the framework of the third edition of the Regional Dialogues on Water in Latin America and the Caribbean, which took place from February 1 to 3 at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago.

“According to FAO estimates, by 2050 world food production will have to increase by 50% compared to 2012to meet the growing demand for food. If current conditions persist, this would require at least 35% more fresh water, or one third more,” said Mario Lubetkin, FAO regional representative during his speech at the event, highlighting the importance of this water resource to guarantee food security worldwide.

“Recent reports estimate that 80% of all drought damage and losses are absorbed by agriculture in low- and middle-income countries, and 35% of global drought-related food losses occur in Latin America and the Caribbean. This represents production losses estimated at around USD 13 billion.“, he assured.

In this sense, Lubetkin said that without adequate water management, the five guidelines for action established at the United Nations Summit on Food Systems, which in 2022 were established: Guarantee access to healthy and nutritious food for all; Adopt sustainable consumption patterns; Promote environmentally friendly production; Promote fair livelihoods; and Build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses.

The adoption of the signed Regional Agenda for Action on Water will allow the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to come with common inputs and a unified point of view to the United Nations Conference on Water, which will be held in March this year at the headquarters of the organization. in New York.

The Agenda emphasizes that the region must move towards a sustainable and inclusive water transition based on four pillars of action: Guaranteeing the human right to safely managed drinking water and sanitation through a major investment drive in the sector, leaving no one behind; Promote regulatory changes and regulations to promote equitable and affordable access, and thereby eradicate water poverty, with innovative instruments including social rates; Reverse the growing negative externalities associated with contamination, overexploitation and socio-environmental conflicts by promoting control and regulation; and Moving from linear to circular management to reduce pressure on water resources, establishing a tendency to decouple between abstraction and gross domestic product (GDP).’

72%

agriculture depends on fresh water in the region according to the FAO report.

300

Millions of people live in countries suffering from a shortage of drinking water.

This dialogue, organized by ECLAC, joins the Global Water Dialogues event organized by FAO in Rome last November, where it was concluded that water, sanitation, health, ecosystems, oceans, energy, food systems and nutrition are completely interconnected.

Climate change is currently placing unprecedented stress on the world’s water resources. According to FAO data, currently 300 million people live in countries suffering from water scarcity, and more than 733 million ―approximately 10% of the world’s population― live in countries affected by severe and severe water scarcity. In recent years, we have been observing the impact of climate on water, creating unprecedented floods and droughts in many countries and regions.