Professor of Economics at Ecole Polytechnique (IP Paris)
Maxime Elkington
Masters student in "Economics for smart cities and climate policy" at École Polytechnique (IP Paris)
Key takeaways
Water is an essential resource, playing a major role in food security, human health, regional stability and international tensions.
Water security depends on its availability in sufficient quality and quantity to meet people’s needs.
While global demand for water is increasing, available freshwater resources are diminishing, exacerbating tensions.
Water is an issue that must include all stakeholders, including local and indigenous communities, who often hold essential knowledge about sustainable management practices.
The UN report on water development estimates that, at the current rate of progress, targets are far from being met and that efforts in some areas need to be quadrupled.
Researcher at Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques (CNRM)
Bertrand Decharme
CNRS Research Director at Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques (CNRM)
Key takeaways
Freshwater resources are unevenly distributed across the globe.
This lack of availability has a serious impact on the world's population, with 4 billion people experiencing severe shortages for at least one month of the year.
The IPCC states that climate change is increasing seasonal contrasts, such as the severity of droughts and wet events.
These shortages are due to reduced rainfall and increased evaporation.
By 2050, human activities (urbanisation, deforestation, pollution, etc.) could become the dominant cause of future global water shortages.
The scientific community cannot accurately predict the future of water resources, because future security will also depend on changes in socio-economic factors and governance.
Lecturer at AgroParisTech and Researcher in Public Management
Stéphanie Dos Santos
Sociologist and demographer at IRD Population Environment Development Laboratory
Key takeaways
Water scarcity is a global issue, with quarter of the world’s population facing extreme water stress every year.
The Sustainable Development Goals discussed in 2015 were supposed to ensure universal and equitable access to drinking water at an affordable cost.
Future predictions are worrying – population growth, changing lifestyles, increasing pollution and accelerating urbanisation will continue to widen these inequalities.
The issue of water is likely to increase gender inequalities, as women can spend up to 10 times more time than men fetching water.
The climate crisis is exacerbating the situation by making water scarcer in arid areas and increasing extreme events tenfold.
Professor emeritus at INSA Toulouse and Researcher at Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (TBI)
Key takeaways
Access to drinking water is a major health and social issue, which was discussed at length at COP28.
By adjusting existing systems, adaptation reduces climate risks and the vulnerability of populations.
Lack of infrastructure and the failure of distribution services are the main obstacles to access to drinking water.
Water sufficiency, desalination, irrigation, REUT includes some of many adaptation measures available.
The problem is that some, such as desalination, are only temporary solutions because of their environmental impact.
There is considerable room for improvement: although this is an important adaptation measure, France only reuses 1% of the volume of wastewater, compared with 80% in Israel.
The recent Explore2 project examines possible future scenarios regarding water in mainland France, based on the IPCC’s climate scenarios.
In the worst-case scenario, temperatures will increase by 4°C by the end of the century when compared to temperatures in 1976-2005, with increased precipitation in winter and reduced precipitation in summer.
A large part of mainland France will almost certainly experience more severe low-water levels in summer and higher river flows in winter.
The “hot spots” (notably the south-east and south-west of France) will be particularly affected by a drop in annual water resources.
Geographically, France is at the transition point between two major changes: more precipitation in northern Europe and aridification in the Mediterranean basin.
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