The Global Water Crisis Should Be a Top Priority Issue

By Martin Khor
MRzine

In recent years, climate change seems to have elbowed out other environmental issues to become the No. 1 global problem. But the alarming problems of water -- increasing scarcity, lack of access to drinking water and sanitation, pollution, flooding -- are equally important and an even more immediate threat.


On 28 July, the UN General Assembly in a historic decision recognised the right to water and sanitation as a human right. This is a fitting recognition of the crucial importance of water to the survival of individuals and the basis for development of nations and indeed the world.

The extensive floods in Pakistan is also a current reminder of two things: the devastating impact of climate change on rainfall and the flow of water quantities; and the importance of properly managing water drainage, especially in the major rivers and waterways.

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