A new report on water insecurity says floods and drought amid climate change and a lack of investment in reliable water supplies is weighing on the global economy by tens of billions of US dollars per year.
“Water is productive and it can be destructive,” Oxford professor David Grey said in video remarks.
According to the report from the University of Oxford published at the start of the World Water Forum in South Korea, South Asia has the largest concentration of water-related risks. East and Southeast Asia face rapidly increasing flood threats, while the US has the greatest exposure to flood risk.
The report comes as California cities endure water use restrictions due to its historic drought, the Atacama region of Chile suffered the most flood damage in 80 years and Brazil’s largest city is sapped by its worst drought in eight decades. Meanwhile, Iran is short of water as shortages in water supplies cause production issues from Taiwan to South Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where the risks of inadequate water supply and sanitation are rising, it said, while North Africa has the greatest percentage of population at risk of water scarcity.
Water insecurity costs the global economy almost US$500 billion per year, according to the report, with urban property flood damage totaling about US$120 billion annually.
Securing Water, Sustaining Growth, published on Monday, was written by a task force established by the Global Water Partnership (GWP) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development of academics, researchers and practitioners led by Jim Hall and Grey from Oxford.
“Our analysis shows that the countries that depend on agriculture for their economies are often the worst affected by floods or water scarcity,” co-author Grey said. Nations need to think “about how they can diversify from an agriculturally focused economy to one less dependent on water.”
In agriculture, water insecurity is estimated to cost existing irrigators US$94 billion per year, according to GWP. Countries should focus “on how better use can be made of the limited water supplies available to them,” Grey said.
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