United Nations: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that major Himalayan rivers like the Indus, the Ganges and Brahmaputra, all hugely important for India, could see reductions in their flows as glaciers and ice sheets recede over the coming decades due to global warming. “Glaciers are critical to all life on earth. Over centuries, they carved out the landmasses we call home. Today, they cover 10 per cent of our world. Glaciers are also the world’s water towers,” Mr Guterres said in his remarks to an event on the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation Wednesday (March 22).
Also Read: IPCC Report Key Takeaways: Only Urgent Climate Action Can Secure A Liveable Future For All
Mr Guterres voiced concern that human activity is driving the planet’s temperature to dangerous new levels and “melting glaciers are the canary in the coalmine”.
Antarctica is losing an average of 150 billion tons of ice mass every year while the Greenland ice cap is melting even faster — losing 270 billion tonnes per year.
In Asia, 10 major rivers originate in the Himalaya region, supplying freshwater to 1.3 billion people living in its watershed. “As glaciers and ice sheets continue to recede over the coming decades, major Himalayan rivers like the Indus, the Ganges and Brahmaputra will feel the impact – seeing their flows reduced,” Mr Guterres said, adding the world has already witnessed how Himalayan melts have worsened flooding in Pakistan.
He added that rising sea levels combined with saltwater intrusion will decimate large parts of these huge deltas.
The event was held on the margins of the UN 2023 Water Conference – formally known as the 2023 Conference for the Midterm Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the UN Decade for Action on Water and Sanitation (2018-2028) – currently underway at UN Headquarters.
Co-hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands, the March 22-24 conference will result in a summary of proceedings from the UNGA President that will feed into the 2023 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
Also Read: Rapidly Narrowing Window For Humanity To Limit Warming To 1.5 Degrees Celsius: IPCC Report
“The first UN water conference in a generation, the UN 2023 Water Conference, co-hosted by the Governments of Tajikistan and the Netherlands will be a watershed moment to mobilize Member States, the UN system and stakeholders alike to take action and bring successful solutions to a global scale,” the UN has said.
Mr Guterres cited data by the World Meteorological Organization that warned that global average sea levels have already risen faster since 1900 than over any preceding century in the last 3,000 years.
“Unless we reverse this trend, the consequences will be catastrophic. Low-lying communities and entire countries could be erased forever. We would witness mass movements of entire populations — and fierce competition for water and land,” he said adding that disasters would accelerate worldwide — including floods, droughts and landslides.
Mr Guterres called on all countries to act as one to protect people and communities alike, emphasizing the urgent need to limit global warming to 1.5 degree rise to avert the worst impacts of climate change.
“We urgently need to reduce emissions, enhance adaptation measures, and ensure climate justice. And developing countries must have the resources to adapt and build resilience against climate disaster,” he said.
He urged the international community to invest in climate-resilient buildings, infrastructure, and water pipelines, as well as policies that conserve precious water resources and their ecosystems for the future.
He stressed the need to build institutional capacities and integrate risk reduction measures to ensure that every person in the world is protected by lifesaving early warning systems against hazardous climate or weather events by 2027.
In his remarks to the opening of the conference Wednesday, Mr Guterres lamented that,
We’ve broken the water cycle, destroyed ecosystems and contaminated groundwater.
Nearly three out of four natural disasters are linked to water, one in four people lives without safely managed water services or clean drinking water and over 1.7 billion people lack basic sanitation. He pointed out that half a billion practice open defecation and millions of women and girls spend hours every day fetching water.
He said he has proposed to the G20 a Climate Solidarity Pact in which all big emitters make extra efforts to cut emissions, and wealthier countries mobilize financial and technical resources to support emerging economies.
India is currently the President of the G20.
In 2015, the world had committed to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 as part of the 2030 Agenda – the promise that everyone would have safely managed water and sanitation by 2030.
“Right now, we are seriously off-track. Billions of people and countless schools, businesses, healthcare centers, farms, and factories are being held back because their human rights to water and sanitation still need to be fulfilled,” the UN said.
A day before the UN Water Conference, the ‘United Nations World Water Development Report 2023: partnerships and cooperation for water’ published by the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said that around 80% of people living under water stress lived in Asia; in particular, northeast China, as well as India and Pakistan.
“The global urban population facing water scarcity is projected to increase from 933 million (one third of global urban population) in 2016 to 1.7–2.4 billion people (one third to nearly half of global urban population) in 2050, with India projected to be the most severely affected,” the report said, citing data.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
