FAO and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) have released the report entitled More People, More Food, Worse Water? on behalf of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems.

Its aim is to flag the fact that agriculture causes more ecological damage in many countries than human settlements or industry.

“Industrial agriculture is among the leading causes of water pollution, especially in most high-income countries and many emerging economies, where it has overtaken contamination from settlements and industries as the major factor in the degradation of inland and coastal waters,” the report states.

Pesticide accumulation in water that is later carried down the food chain threatens human health, and has led to the widespread ban on certain pesticides, including DDT, a common insect control chemical once used in the United States until its cancellation in 1972. DDT was also banned in China in 1983, but is still used in India.

The report also adds that nitrate used in farming ranks among the most common contaminants found in groundwater aquifers. To tackle the problem, the report recommends a wider range of data-driven outcomes, including data collection that can help develop water quality models and produce better water policies.

Authors of report conclude that the report 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is designed to shape policies and strategies around the reduction of water pollution, in particular those that are based around SDG target 6.3. FAO launched the report at the High-Level International Conference on the International Decade for Action ‘Water for Sustainable Development’ 2018-2028 in June 2018 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

The post FAO links water pollution to agricultural practices appeared first on The Source.

The cities’ municipal water supplies have been affected by drought and a rise in salinity since December 2017. On 1 July, people took the streets in protests that sparked violent clashes with police forces involving gunfire that left more than 11 injured.

“Although Iran has a history of drought, over the last decade, it has experienced its most prolonged, extensive and severe drought in over 30 years,” the Food and Agriculture Organization, a United Nations agency, said in a recent report.

At the root of the problem lies broken water pipe infrastructure made worse by high temperatures. This has forced provincial water firm to source water from the Persian Gulf, a location fast becoming the cities’ only remaining water supply. Residents have complained that the water gives off an obnoxious odour, making it undrinkable.

The proposed resolution would involve instead transferring water from the Dez Dam to the Karkheh Dam close to Iran’s western border with Iraq.

Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said this course of action would adhere to the framework of the Ghadir water project. The project was launched eight years ago to address the problem of a water shortage the surrounding regions of Khuzestan.

Iran has faced drought for more than 15 years through declining rainfall, rising temperatures and ineffective farming practices. Though recent protests concern the lack of access to clean water among urban residents, excessive consumption in cities as well as poor management of resources has been simultaneously linked to the national shortage.

Khuzestan governor-general, Gholamreza Shariati, has said bottled water continues to be provided to residents.

As well as agricultural practices, government officials have blamed the shortage on increased salinity caused by the rise in sea levels along the Persian Gulf.

Energy officials estimate Iran’s annual water deficit at about 5.7 billion cubic metres.

The post Urban drought forces Iran to seek resolution appeared first on The Source.

More than eight million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in the oceans each year, a trend that could overwhelm marine life by 2050, he said.

“From remote islands, to the Artic, nowhere is untouched,” Guterres said. His message underscored the dependence of peace and prosperity on a healthy planet.

There are estimated to be as many as 267 marine life species that have either ingested or become entangled with plastic debris. Almost 90 percent of turtle species, and around 45 percent of all seabirds have been affected, as well as 43 percent of all marine mammal species.

The environmental activism group Greenpeace meanwhile estimates the current amount of plastic entering the world’s oceans at close to 13 million tonnes each year, which it says includes “everything from plastic bottles and bags to microbeads”.

“We are calling on big corporations to act to reduce their plastic footprint – and stop producing excessive plastic packaging that is designed to be used once then thrown away,” the group has stated.

On 2 June, a pilot whale in southern Thailand died after swallowing more than 80 plastic bags. A rescue mission leading to an autopsy revealed the whale ingested 8 kilos of plastic, Thailand’s department of marine and coastal resources confirmed.

Guterres urged people to stop using disposable plastic products, such as plastic bottles, and to “refuse what you can’t re-use”.

World Environment Day began in 1974, to raise awareness and galvanise leaders to act decisively on threats to global environmental concerns, including the depletion of the ozone, desertification and global warming.

The post Plastic waste overwhelming world’s oceans, says UN chief appeared first on The Source.

Many of the world’s leading philanthropic organisations, development banks, government officials, and impact entrepreneurs gathered at the United Nations to address the world’s most pressing human challenges. For many of us that attended the 5th IWA Water and Development Congress, water and sanitation access for the poor is the most pressing problem to solve. I believe solving this will unlock the resources needed to meet the rest of the Sustainable Development Goals.

There are billions of people living without safe water and sanitation and each of those billions have a name, dreams, and goals for the future. As an example of why I believe meeting Sustainable Development Goal #6 will have such a profound effect, I want to introduce you to just one of those billions.

Fitri is five years old and lives with her mother and father in a small house in the outskirts of Tangerang, Indonesia, where they make a living by selling furniture. With no reliable water source in or near her house, someone makes daily trips to collect it. That responsibility could soon fall to Fitri, just as it did to her mother when she was a child. The long journeys will mean there is no time for school and little protection from predators, weather, or dangerous wildlife on her route. In addition, if the water Fitri brings back is not safe, she will be at risk of serious disease that could cause long-term damage to her health.

Unfortunately, this situation is far from unique. The World Health Organisation and UNICEF recently released the most extensive and detailed analysis of global water, sanitation and hygiene ever produced. The analysis reveals that three in ten people around the world–2.1 billion–lack safe drinking water at home. Six in ten–or 4.5 billion–do not have safe sanitation.

The findings also tell us that 844 million people–nearly one in nine–lack basic water services. That means they do not have a source of drinking water within a 30-minute round trip from their home. Meanwhile, more than 892 million people defecate in open fields, bushes, or by the side of the road.

For children, this kind of lack of access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene can have catastrophic consequences–putting their health, and even their lives, at risk. Diseases linked to poor water, sanitation, and hygiene are among the leading causes of death in children under five. Moreover, when children do not have a water source close by, their education, just like Fitri’s, is in jeopardy. Many children give up school to collect water–and girls are prone to assault along the route. In these ways, amongst many more, lack of access to water drives inequality and perpetuates the cycle of poverty.

The Joint Monitoring Program report demonstrates that it is going to be even harder to meet the world’s development road map–the Sustainable Development Goals–than we thought. Although there has been positive progress on improving water and sanitation over recent years, it has not been quick enough or comprehensive enough. And the Sustainable Development Goals have upped the game. While the immediate priority is to ensure that everybody has access to at least a basic level of service, the long-term goal is safely managed services.

If we are to meet these challenges and secure children’s futures, we need to work with a range of partners–from governments to schools and from NGOs to the private sector. Collaboration is critical if we are to increase global efforts to secure access to better water and sanitation services and collect more and better data to enable us to keep abreast of the problem and to target investment where it most needed.

Back in Indonesia, Fitri now has access to safe water sanitation and handwashing facilities at home. She will be able to attend school because her family took out a small loan to install a water tap with clean, safe water. Fitri can drink and wash safely, protect herself from disease, and build an entirely different future from that which would have been possible without it.

The post Answering the call to invest in the world’s poor appeared first on The Source.