Fresh Water

On 1st January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at a UN Summit — officially came into force. The Sustainable Development Goals are an interrelated set of Goals, Indicators and Targets that UN member states are expected to use, to frame their agendas and political policies over the next 15 years. These Goals follow on from the Millennium Development Goals, which were agreed by governments in 2001 and expired at the end of 2015.

Considering that the stated aim of these Goals is to bring an end to all forms of poverty, whilst leaving no one behind, it is important that they are established upon common universal foundations. It is clear that they can only be achieved if there is long-term environmental sustainability and this is only possible if the global water cycle continues to function effectively. Therefore in order for there to be any lasting benefit gained from all the work that has gone towards sustainable development since 1992, safeguarding the global water cycle needs to given top priority. One of the significant Targets within the 2015 SDG’s is Target 6.6. This states:

On March 22, 2012, the US National Intelligence Council released the unclassified report, ‘The Intelligence Community Assessment on Global Water Security’. Findings in the report reinforce the view that water is not just a human health issue, not just an economic development or environmental issue, but a peace and security issue and is central to National and International security.

Recognising that achieving fresh water security is central to national and international security, it should therefore be included as a crucial element within any long-term global defense strategies. This needs to include protecting and restoring the ecosystems, which are essential for rebalancing and maintaining the entire global water cycle.

In 2016 we created a Report that further elaborates upon this subject and which provides a method/plan of action for implementing Target 6.6. This has been accepted as a model for climate adaptation by the UNFCCC and can be found on their website. We hope that you find this Document informative and that you Share it.

Because it effects us all and the choices that we make effect it, then we all need to have a far greater understanding of what regulates climate and how it relates to our day-to-day lives. This would be much more productive than trying to adapt to the increasingly extreme weather conditions or waiting for governments to eventually make decisions that consider the long-term good of the many. An important point that is often missed out of climate change discussions is the fact that the water cycle and climate cycle are not two separate systems.

The global water cycle and climate change need to be addressed together, recognising that anything that impacts upon the water cycle, also impacts upon climate and vice versa. For example – mass deforestation sets off a chain of reactions that destabilise the water cycle, which then have knock on effects upon climate systems. These effects can range from cyclones and hurricanes, to flooding and drought. Generally these alarming repercussions are looked at in isolation but it is only really by looking at the entire water cycle and climate system collectively that cohesive solutions can be applied.

Up until recently the concept of climate included the global water cycle in its three phases of liquid, solid and gas. It was clearly understood that it was changes in this cycle, which were altering climate and the US Global Change Research Program, involving NASA was initiated in the 1990’s to gain greater understanding of the processes involved. In September 1999, as an essential element of this multi billion-dollar program, a water cycle study was initiated. This was with the aim of determining whether human induced changes were affecting the intensification of the water cycle and how this affected climate. One of their conclusions was that changes in land cover and land use can have significant, even drastic, impacts on the water cycle at local and regional scales. Seeing that massive deforestation programs have been happening globally, these impacts are also at international scales.

Increased quantities of greenhouse gases in the upper atmosphere are widely recognised to be a major cause of the amplification of climate change. However water vapour is not often mentioned. This seems to be a great oversight because water vapour is the most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. According to studies it accounts for approximately 60% of the greenhouse effect. Whereas Carbon Dioxide accounts for approximately 26%. Therefore as the global water cycle becomes destabilised and there are larger quantities of water vapour in the atmosphere, it has a direct feedback effect on climate.

For too long now the essential connectivity between the global hydrological cycle, climate and human induced climate change has been sidelined in international climate talks and water conferences. Instead the idea put forwards at the International Conference on Water and the Environment held in Dublin in 1992, where it was stated that: “Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good.”, became the favoured approach.

Although water is the foundations and bedrock upon which all economies rest, viewing water in this way has allowed it to fall into the category of ‘valuable, limited commodity. This is bringing about the mass privatization of freshwater. It is now being treated as a marketable good that can be sold at any price, water companies wish to place upon it. In the meantime safeguarding the global water cycle and implementing effective solutions, which include preserving the ecosystems, which maintain it and dealing with rebalancing the quantities of atmospheric water vapour greenhouse gas, are being ignored.

Because freshwater, as we know it, only exists as part of a three phase recycling process known as the hydrological cycle, then any group claiming ownership of it, should also be obliged to bear the responsibility of all it’s three phases. They would therefore be accountable for all damages brought about by its instability. This includes extreme weather events related to the intensification of the water cycle and the severe reduction in quantity of freshwater worldwide, linked with aquifer depletion and glacial melt.

If we truly wish to leave our children, grandchildren and future generations a world in which they can live in some kind of peace and harmony, which accords in any way whatsoever with the ideas of sustainability and human rights, then addressing human induced climate change needs to include the rebalancing of the hydrological cycle.

Mountain ecosystems are amongst those crucial ecosystems, which are necessary for the healthy functioning of the hydrological cycle. They play a key role in maintaining freshwater quantity and quality worldwide.

It is estimated that one in two people worldwide depend on freshwater mountain sources. Whatever happens in upland watersheds has a massive impact on the water supply of downstream areas and the destruction and disturbances of mountain ecosystems have wide-reaching global consequences.

Mountains are often called nature’s water towers. All of Earth’s rivers have their headwaters and origins in them. They intercept air circulating around the globe and force it upwards where it condenses into clouds, which provide rain and snow. They also store water in various ways, including the formation of snow and ice, which is later released as melt-off during warm seasons.

Another essential source of fresh water is glaciers and mountain snow. During winter months snow accumulates in the mountains. It slowly melts over the summer, generating fresh water for streams and rivers and the needs of humans, plants and animals. Nowadays mountain snows and glaciers are melting and receding at an unprecedented rate.

As has been noted by many scientists, these glaciers are not only a major source of fresh water for more than half of humanity; they are also a fundamental part of the planet’s climate cycles. Either positively or negatively they effect weather patterns on a global scale. Therefore they effect us all.

We all generally understand the temporary crisis we would experience, if the water tanks in our homes were not operational. In this case however, we are talking about the water towers of Earth and the potential global crisis that would occur if they should cease to function. Therefore it is of paramount importance that these irreplaceable ecosystems are given immediate attention and that all is done to protect and restore their mixed biodiversity. We cannot afford to loose this biodiversity because it plays a vital role in precipitation and the creation of snows at high altitudes.

Problems related to their degradation are not simply problems for those living in mountain regions. All of life on Earth is affected. Through deforestation, dam building and the mass burning of fossil fuels, humanity has inadvertently brought about these problems Therefore it is the responsibility of the international community to do everything possible to fix them. If we do not take concerted unified co-operative action now it will only get far worst.

On 1st January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at a UN Summit — officially came into force. The Sustainable Development Goals are an interrelated set of Goals, Indicators and Targets that UN member states are expected to use, to frame their agendas and political policies over the next 15 years. Target 6.6 sets a mandate for world governments to protect and restore water related ecosystems, as they are essential for realising access to fresh water for all.

Fresh water security has already been recognised as central to global security and the ecosystems which regulate this has been recognised as central to water security. Therefore this needs to be included as a crucial element within all global defence strategies.