The case of water is obvious, because it is at the center of the development of any personal or collective project. Without water, there is no life, there is no work, there are no projects. Without safe water, there is no health, there is no equality, there is no progress. The protection and restoration of the sources and ecosystems that contain this resource is a condition for the possibility of development of any society.
Water is as finite as our Earth and global warming is modifying the water cycle, conditioning its access year after year, leading the most vulnerable sectors to suffer the harshest consequences of this crisis. According to the World Bank, in the next three decades, the global food system will need between 40% and 50% more water; the demand for water at the municipal and industrial levels will rise between 50% and 70%, and the demand for water for energy uses will increase by 85%.
In this sense, the restoration of wetlands, rivers, coasts, forests and each ecosystem that provides humanity with its rich biodiversity, is not only a morally responsible act, it is a condition for the possibility of any future project. In the case of companies, for example, the estimation and monitoring of the water risk of any enterprise, represents a fundamental tool to be able to execute an investment that is profitable and lasting. A study carried out in 2017 by the consulting firm Trucost showed that if it were necessary to absorbing the full cost of deteriorating water availability and quality, the result would be an average profit reduction of 44% for utilities, and 116% for food and beverage companies.
In short, what it is about is understanding that betting on the protection and restoration of nature not only allows us to live in harmony with our environment, but it is the only way to get out of the labyrinth in which we have gotten ourselves. Nature-based solutions offer competitive advantages in reusing resources that would otherwise be waste, enrich communities, and offer governments and businesses the opportunity to launch sustainable projects that meet the challenges ahead.
On this June 5, the UN invites us to think of the planet as One Earth, a single house that we must recover with resilient and transformative initiatives that take advantage of its wealth and manage its resources as public goods that must be protected and treated in an appropriate way. sustainable. On this World Environment Day and every day, we renew the opportunity to face this challenge to inspire in every action the world we want and the way we want to live it.
Executive Director of the Safe Water Project.
Source: Ambito
