To mark World Water Day on 22 March, Misereor is calling for greater efforts to protect the world's water resources. Although access to clean drinking water and sanitation was recognised as a human right back in 2010, the global community is falling far short of the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) - "Clean water and sanitation for all". The climate crisis is dramatically exacerbating water scarcity and pollution, as Misereor projects in the Peruvian Andes show. The rapid melting of glaciers in particular is threatening the water supply of entire regions.
"In our village, the wells and springs carry less and less water, but we need it urgently: for our everyday lives, our bodies, our fields," warns Fernando Gonzalo, from the Misereor partner organisation CEDEP in the Peruvian Andes. The nearby glaciers in the snow-covered mountains of the Cordillera Blanca are melting rapidly and have been unable to build up new layers of ice for years. As the glaciers can no longer store and release enough water, the water supply for indigenous families in the Andes region is becoming increasingly insecure. Most of their drinking water comes from the melting water of the glaciers. Peru is home to around 71 per cent of the world's tropical glaciers - glaciers that can survive in warmer climates due to their high altitude.
2.2 billion without secure access
Ten years after the SDGs were formulated, Misereor and its partner organisations have come to a sobering conclusion: hardly any noticeable progress - especially for women and children, who suffer particularly from water scarcity. Statistics show that around 1,000 children worldwide die every day as a result of contaminated water. Despite individual improvements in access to drinking water, the situation remains alarming: around 2.2 billion people still do not have safe access to clean drinking water. "Little will change if the international community develops strategies for improvement but neglects their implementation and, above all, does not provide sufficient funding," warns Philipp Günther, water expert at Misereor.
Strengthening the human right to water by 2030
"The potential to improve the water supply is enormous. Climate change must not be an excuse for a lack of progress - the international community is currently not honouring its political commitments," emphasises Günther. Clean water has been a human right since 2010, but is only legally binding where it has been transposed into national law - for example in Bolivia, Kenya, Ecuador, the Maldives and South Africa. Other countries should finally follow suit, because consistent climate protection and thus the preservation of glaciers - as the last 10 years have shown more than clearly - are an indispensable prerequisite for the realisation of the human right to clean water. This would benefit people in the Andean regions, for example: around 25 per cent of the global population, some 1.9 billion people worldwide, rely on glacier and snowmelt water as a source of drinking water. "Water is a valuable resource, it can fuel conflicts and fears or promote development and peace. The decisive factor is what countries do with this potential by the 2030 SDG target," says Günther.
The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda were launched in 2015 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development as a global plan to combat poverty, inequality and protect the environment. Misereor is working with its partners in the Global South to achieve these goals, particularly in the areas of education, food, water, energy and sustainable cities. However, countries have not yet sufficiently fulfilled their responsibilities by the 2030 target.
