H.E. Mariam AlMheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, addresses the global water challenge and the UAE’s ambition to scale collective action and innovative solutions to address at UN 2023 Water Conference.
Responsible water management is a must. When warnings sound, concerted action must follow” Mariam AlMheiri told the first UN water summit since 1977.
H.E. Mariam AlMheiri added “The stress on our water systems is contributing in ever-more concrete ways to food shortages, farmer-herder tensions and migration, ultimately undermining stability in the most fragile areas. With impacts of climate change manifesting most concretely through water – via droughts, flooding, tsunamis – these trends are only likely to worsen. The UAE will continue to work with its partners to ensure that the Council focuses on practical ways to warranty that climate risks inform its decision-making.”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday warned that the world’s supplies of clean water are in deep trouble thanks to humanity’s “vampiric” overconsumption.
Ms AlMheiri underscored the role of innovation, diversification and conservation, and the opportunities they offer to address water shortages.
“Currently, agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of all freshwater withdrawal globally,” she said.
“If we are to shift to a more sustainable pathway, innovation and efficiencies will be inevitable.”
A quarter of the world’s population still does not have access to safe drinking water, while half lack basic sanitation, the UN says.
The Middle East and North Africa is the most scarce region of the world and has only 1.4 per cent of the world’s renewable fresh water.
According to Unicef, about 41 million people in Mena lack access to safely managed drinking water services and 66 million people lack basic sanitation services.
“The stress on our water systems is contributing in ever-more concrete ways to food shortages, farmer-herder tensions and displacement, ultimately undermining stability in the most fragile and conflict-affected areas,” Ms AlMheiri said.
This week, four UN Security Council members — Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland and the UAE — announced pledges to drive forward “mutual understanding and commitment within the council to address climate change, peace and security.”
“There is no doubt that climate change is the greatest challenge of our time,” said Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s ambassador to the UN.
“There is no true security without climate security. The world, and most importantly the Security Council, cannot and must not look away.”
Why take part?
To keep global warming below 1.5°C this century, we must halve annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Without action, exposure to air pollution beyond safe guidelines will increase by 50 per cent within the decade and plastic waste flowing into aquatic ecosystems will nearly triple by 2040.
How UNITED BLUERISE Can Help
We, at UNITED BLUERISE, aim to promote rewarding sustainable solutions where the health benefits of a “pure-living” truly meet in parallel with environment challenges of a “plastic-free” world.
As a global movement, we also strongly invite individuals and groups by choosing to reuse and saving millions of pieces of plastic from ending in nature, which is surely the principal to reduce plastic pollution and of course the climate change. In this pathway, we can together keep our environment and community a plastic-free for the future.
The goal for all of us is to stand up for an ideal and unite towards a better world by sharing facts, ideas and advice on how to live a more responsible life. Our consuming culture is polluting our planet. We need prompt lifestyle changes when it comes to single-use plastic. Our goal is ultimately to reduce plastic waste. Plastic is not only polluting our planet and impacting communities around us, but it’s also making its way into our bodies through the air we breathe, food we eat, and water we drink.
Article: QL-7122
Source: https://www.thenationalnews.com