UNEP NEWS RELEASE

UNEP Calls for More Action on Water Issues At Johannesburg Summit

30 Years UNEP: Environment for Development: People, Planet Prosperity

STOCKHOLM, 12 August 2002 - It is vital that world leaders tackle the
growing global water crisis before it's too late and start implementing the
Millennium Declaration goals, the head of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) said today.

In his keynote address to the Stockholm World Water Symposium, Klaus
Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director, said he hoped Heads of State and
Government attending the upcomingWorld Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg will "take decisions that move us on from declarations to
action and implementation".

The UN Millennium Declaration goal is to halve, by 2015, the proportion of
people who do not have access to safe drinking water (currently 20 per
cent).

Unless action and implementation happen now, in less than 25 years
two-thirds of the world's people will be living in "water-stressed"
countries", Mr. Toepfer said. (This is where water consumption is more
than 10 per cent of renewable freshwater resources.)

This year, water pollution, poor sanitation and water shortages will kill
millions of people", Mr. Toepfer added. "Millions more are in bad health
and trapped in poverty, much of their energy and time wasted in the quest
for clean water."

Quoting UNEP's recently released third Global Environment Outlook report
(GEO-3), Mr. Toepfer said 1.1 billion people still lack access to safe
drinking water and 2.4 billion lack access to improved sanitation.
According to GEO-3, 2.2 million people die every year from diarrhoeal
diseases, such as cholera and dysentery caused by contaminated water. And,
malaria alone is responsible for 1-2 million deaths annually.

"GEO-3 paints a worrying picture on many fronts", Mr. Toepfer said. "By
2020, water use is expected to increase by 40 per cent, and 17 per cent
more water will be required for food production to meet the needs of the
world's growing population."

"The bottom line, however, is that without adequate clean water, there can
be no escape from poverty", he said.

Because of its contribution to economic growth and reducing poverty,
achieving food security, improving environmental health conditions and
protecting ecosystems, water played a central role in the Millennium
Declaration goals.

The challenge before all delegations at the Johannesburg Summit is to find
ways to maximize the social and economic benefits from available water
resources, while ensuring that basic human needs are met and the
environment is protected.

Stressing that part of the solution was to "minimise competition between
water uses", Mr. Toepfer highlighted the issue of water-pricing as
something that needs to be revised to reflect the true cost of the
resource, taking account of the economic, social, and environmental value
of water. "Pricing policy should ensure the poor have enough at a price
they can afford", Mr. Toepfer added. "At present, the poorest pay most for
clean water, both in monetary terms, and in terms of the burden to their
health", he said.

Mr. Toepfer also stressed the need to increase the capacity of developing
countries to manage water in an environmentally sustainable manner. "If
capacity is increased, then sustainable development is enhanced", Mr.
Toepfer said. "Increase financing for water infrastructure is also
necessary", he added.

Water is one of five central issues on the agenda of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development that starts in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 26
August. Heads of State from over 100 countries are expected to attend the
Summit.

Note to journalists: For more information or to arrange interviews with
Klaus Toepfer, please contact: Robert Bisset, UNEP Press Officer and Europe
Spokesperson on mobile +33-6-2272-5842, email: [email protected] [2],fr, or
Nick Nuttall, Acting Director of UNEP Division of Communications and Public
Information and Head of UNEP Media, tel: +254-2-623084, mobile:
+254-733-632755, e-mail: [email protected] [3]