UNISDR calls for consumer care on World Water Day

GENEVA, 22 March 2012 - The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today urged people to think about how much water they will be responsible for using today on World Water Day.

Ms. Wahlström said: "We live in a world where clean, fresh drinking water is becoming increasingly scarce. It can take about 10 to 15 times more water to produce a kilo of meat than a kilo of wheat. By 2030 we will need at least 50% more food, 45% more energy and 30% more water.

"World Water Day should be a day of reflection on the challenges of sustainable development and what incremental steps each of us can take to make the world a less wasteful place when it comes to the use of a key natural resource like water whether it is eating less meat, drinking tap water, using less water to flush the toilet or taking a shower rather than a bath.

"There are 783 million people in the world today without access to safe water. Climate change is expected to exacerbate water stress in semi-arid regions across the globe and increased competition for water usually means less for the poor and the vulnerable. Water comes with lots of hidden costs and we need to make people more aware of what they are."

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World Water Day 2012 - The World Is Thirsty Because We Are Hungry