CIHEAM Press Review

As the ramifications of the global water crisis grow in scope and severity, understanding the manifold and devastating consequences of water insecurity—in all its forms—is increasingly critical to safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of billions around the world.

The announcement was made by the Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, after a meeting of the commission to monitor the effects of the drought, when a third of the country, especially in the Alentejo and Algarve, is experiencing severe and extreme drought.

A major UN report recently warned that water supplies around the world are at increasing risk from “vampiric overconsumption”.
Europe has been in drought since 2018, according to a recent study from the Graz University of Technology in Austria. Researchers say the water situation is now “very precarious”.
Countries across the continent have been struggling with water even through winter. Low rain and snowfall mean already dwindling supplies haven’t been restored during this typically wet period.

On a sun-scorched shoreline in Iraq's southern marshlands, fishermen stood shovelling a grim catch: tiny fish gathered dead from the water, fit only for use as animal fodder.
Locals once lived self-sufficient lives in the vast freshwater areas that make up the UNESCO-recognised Iraqi Marshlands, filling their nets with varieties of fish and keeping large herds of water buffalo.

The United Nations says Iraq is among the five nations most vulnerable to climate change in the world, and where climate-induced migration has already begun.

WASHINGTON: As the effects of climate change are increasingly felt worldwide, countries in the Middle East and North Africa, which was already the most water-scarce region in the world, are facing ever-greater depletion of their water resources. Meanwhile economic instability often stands in the way of effective water-related development and management programs. These were among the key messages from an online panel discussion hosted by Middle East Institute in Washington on Wednesday.

Photo: AFP