UN Says One in Four Do Not Have Safe Drinking Water

The United Nations said 26 percent of the world's population does not have safe drinking water in a report released Tuesday.

The U.N. World Water Development Report 2023's release comes at the start of a three-day meeting on water resources and usage in New York City.

Richard Connor is the main editor of the report. He told reporters at the release that the estimated cost of meeting the U.N.'s goals for water is between $600 billion and $1 trillion.

Connor said it was just as important to develop partnerships¹ with investors², financiers, governments and climate change groups. These forms of cooperation, Connor said, would ensure that the money spent would provide drinkable water to 2 billion people who do not have it and sanitation³ to 3.6 billion who lack it.

The report warns that water use around the world is growing one percent a year "and is expected to grow at a similar rate to 2050..."

Connor said the increase in demand is happening in developing countries and emerging economies. That is because urban areas and industries are using more water.

Agriculture alone, Connor said, uses 70 percent of the world's water supply and has to be better planned.

The report also said that seasonal⁴ lack of water will increase in Central Africa, East Asia and parts of South America. That is in addition to areas that already have water scarcity⁵ such as the Middle East and the Sahara area of Africa. The report said this is the result of temperature increases in the Earth's atmosphere.

The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is responsible for the latest water report. It said, on average, "10 percent of the global population lives in countries with high or critical water stress." And 3.5 billion people live under conditions of water stress at least one month out of the year.

The report also commented on weather events. It said floods in tropical areas near the Equator have increased by 2.5 times. But Connor said weather conditions involving lack of rain, or drought, were more difficult to establish. He said, "...an increase in intensity⁶ or frequency of droughts and ‘heat extremes' can be expected in most regions as a direct result of climate change."

Connor added that the biggest producer of pollution is untreated wastewater. He said 80 percent of wastewater around the world is untreated. But in developing countries, it is "pretty much 99 percent."

An estimated 171 countries and 100 ministers are attending the three-day meeting.

Words in This Story

editor –n. a person who decides what parts of a written work are published or changed

sanitation –n. the activity of removing, treating or dealing⁷ with wastewater and solid waste in a healthy and acceptable way

scarcity –n. the condition of not having enough of something

stress –n. a state of tension often caused by the apparent lack of something or inability to understand something

frequency –n. how often something happens

1 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

4 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

5 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

6 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。