Increasingly, in many parts of the world, demand for water is more and more nudging above the limits of water availability. For example, climate change is distorting India’s monsoon season, causing ice in Tibet to melt and affecting freshwater supplies to more than a billion people. This is affecting water’s availability and supply. Wind and rainfall conditions have become more extreme and harder to predict. But as global warming takes effect, ordinary weather is becoming a thing of the past, exacerbating the water crisis. Water insecurity, its rising temperature, impoverished quality and declining availability is making climate change worse: freshwater security is our best bet to curb climate change and keep it within the agreed upon limits. But as we continue to over-deplete, mismanage and abuse this vital resource, it is becoming more scarce, more polluted and contested at an unprecedented rate and scale. Coupled with economic development and changing consumption patterns, this has meant the demand for water is skyrocketing.

Since the 1970s, the world’s population has doubled to 8 billion.

This allowed us to raise families, build cities and factories, prevent the spread of disease, boost farm yields and bring more land under cultivation. Water was always available, and its quality and its supply were understood as predictable. Why water, why now? For the past five decades we have been noisily going about the business of rapid growth and development. It is perhaps our last chance to get the world on track for a water-secure world for all, everywhere. This is not only a unique opportunity for the world to come together and accelerate and scale our collective action achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 and all other water-related goals and targets.

This month the United Nations will hold its first water conference in almost 50 years. − Improving the governance of water is an urgent priority for all of humankindīy Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, Kingdom of the Netherlands and Sulton Rahimzoda, Special Envoy of the President of Tajikistan for Water and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea We need actions and solutions that drive the change we need

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