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The urgent global water crisis
Water is something none of us can live without, but billions of people take for granted. On GZERO World, UN-Water Chair Gilbert Houngbo and Ian Bremmer discuss the global water crisis, the impact of climate change, and solutions for providing future genereations with better access to clean, drinkable water.
Four billion people around the world experience at least a month of water scarcity each year, which is a problem Houngbo attributes to lack of resources, a rapidly changing climate, and bad government policy. To ensure that those most vulnerable to water stress don't get left behind, Houngbo emphasizes the need for investment in water-related infrastructure and technology, particularly in agriculture, which uses up to 75% of the world's fresh water supply.
"We as a global society have taken water for granted," Houngbo says, and water management must become "everyone's business." Houngbo also highlights the need to develop reliable metrics to measure progress in addressing water scarcity, especially in rural areas, which have some of the biggest problems.
Despite the severity of the problem, Houngbo remains optimistic that society can meet the global water challenge with policies that ensure access to basic water services, encourage water reuse, and minimize pollution risks.
Note: This interview appeared in a GZERO World episode, "The uncomfortable truth about water scarcity," on March 27, 2023.
Water isn’t “free” - but it shouldn’t be private
UN-Water Chair Gilbert Houngbo remembers being a college student in the late 70s, when people first started saying water should be treated as a public good. Today, we're still having that same conversation, but now, groups like UN-Water are working to make it a reality.
On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, Houngbo emphasizes the importance of policies that ensure access to basic water services, encourage water reuse, and minimize the risk of pollution. It's easy to think water is free and we don't need to take care of it, says Houngbo, "but this has to stop."
The former Prime Minister of Togo also touches on "the sensitive issue of privatization of water services" and the potential impact it can have on "inequality and efficiency." Well-managed water services are a good thing, Houngbo notes, but privatization shouldn't mean the price of water automatically goes up.
Despite the double-edged sword of privatization, he suggests that it "can be effective if accompanied by government regulations" to ensure that vulnerable populations have access to water and that private companies adhere to quality and safety standards.
Watch the GZERO World episode: The uncomfortable truth about water scarcity
The uncomfortable truth about water scarcity
Water is critical to life, yet billions of people worldwide lack access to it. Gilbert Houngbo, Chair of UN-Water, sheds light on this critical issue on GZERO World. Houngbo attributes the water crisis to both "lack of resources and bad governance," and stresses the need for investment in water-related infrastructure to help solve the problem.
"We as a global society have taken water for granted," Houngbo says, "Water must become everyone's business." Agriculture alone accounts for up to 75% of global fresh water use, so investing in technology to reduce waste and also plan for climate change is key. Houngbo also highlights the importance of developing metrics to measure progress in addressing water scarcity, particularly in rural areas, and cautions against private companies leaving the most vulnerable populations behind.
Despite the challenges, Houngbo remains optimistic that society can meet the global water challenge through policies that ensure access to basic water services, encourage water reuse, and minimize pollution risks.
Up to four billion people—half the world’s population—experience at least a month of severe water scarcity each year. The international community must come together to protect the earth's most precious resource for future generations, Houngbo tells Ian Bremmer.
Episode 2: Saving the world’s water supply
Listen: Nearly half of the world's population currently lives in areas that face water scarcity for at least one month out of every year, and more than 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. This basic human need is too often at risk for communities around the globe, creating grave public health and security crises.
The latest episode of Living Beyond Borders, a special podcast series from GZERO brought to you by Citi Private Bank, examines the growing problem of both physical and economic water scarcity, and its potential to cause further humanitarian and security threats. Moderated by Mikaela McQuade, Director of Energy, Climate, and Resources at Eurasia Group, this episode features Harlin Singh, Global Head of Sustainable Investing at Citi Global Wealth, and Franck Gbaguidi, Senior Analyst of Energy, Climate, & Resources at Eurasia Group.

Mikaela McQuade
Director of Energy, Climate, and Resources at Eurasia Group

Harlin Singh
Global Head of Sustainable Investing at Citi Global Wealth

Franck Gbaguidi
Senior Analyst of Energy, Climate, & Resources at Eurasia Group
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“Crimea river”: Russia & Ukraine’s water conflict
Russia and Ukraine have been at odds over lots of things in recent years, but the latest spat is over something particularly fluid and intractable: water.
While much of the attention on Ukraine's conflict with Russia tends to focus on eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists control two Ukrainian provinces amid an ongoing civil war that's already killed 14,000 people, there's also Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 and continues to govern directly.
Since that time, Crimea has been running out of drinking water, and Moscow isn't happy about it.
A fluid backstory: Crimea is a sea-girdled peninsula of arid steppes and salty marshes. For decades, a Soviet-era canal brought Crimea 85 percent of its freshwater from rivers on the Ukrainian mainland.
But that began to change in 2014: after a popular uprising in Ukraine ousted the country's Kremlin-friendly president, Russia annexed Crimea, which is the only region of Ukraine where ethnic Russians predominate.
Although neither Kyiv, the US, nor the EU recognize Russia's control over Crimea, Ukraine has no way of kicking out Russia's vastly superior forces.
But at the same time, as long as the Kremlin de facto governs the place, Kyiv believes it no longer has any responsibility for the well-being of the people who live there. After all, they are now under a Russian flag, not a Ukrainian one.
And that's where the water crisis comes in, dam it! After the Russian takeover of Crimea, Ukraine built a dam across that Soviet-era canal to stop the flow of water to the peninsula.
The political and practical logic was simple: Russia can't expect Ukraine to continue watering a garden that the Kremlin has stolen. And Ukrainian officials have made clear that they don't intend to change their minds about that.
As a result, Crimean authorities have since 2014 been forced on occasion to
ration water, and after a particularly harsh drought earlier this year, Moscow leveled the charge of genocide at Kyiv for its decision to block the canal. This week, the Kremlin accused Kyiv of ecocide as well.
All of this has forced Russia to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Crimean water infrastructure, not only for the drinking and irrigation needs of the region's 2.5 million civilian residents, but also for the growing number of Russian naval personnel stationed there.
"Crimea river," you might say, but all that money adds up. According to Bloomberg's numbers, the more than $20 billion that Russia has spent on Crimea is roughly equal to two entire years of Russia's entire education budget.
This is part of a bigger issue, the old "you broke it, you bought it" problem: "returning" Crimea to Russian control in 2014 brought Putin an unprecedented windfall of political support at home. But now he's on the hook for it: letting Crimeans go thirsty, or live in the dark, just isn't an option, but actually running a non-contiguous, water-poor peninsula costs a huge amount of money.
With recent droughts and local mismanagement making the water problem worse, the Kremlin seems keen to open the taps, as it were, on this particular issue.
What next? Despite a Russian troop buildup in April, the Kremlin insists there will be no "water war" with Ukraine. But Crimea's water shortage isn't getting any better, and global warming certainly won't help.
Pour yourself a tall glass of water, and watch this space.
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