Programme element 1.1:
Caring for freshwater, coastal and marine environments
Contents: Strategic Actions Legislative Authority Activities Also available are an overview of Programme Element 1 and a summary of all elements of the UNEP Programme.
Issues addressed: An estimated one-third of the world's population will suffer from chronic water shortage by the year 2025 due to increasing demand for drinking water caused by growing population, decreasing quality of the water resulting from pollution, and augmenting requirements of expanding industries and agriculture. The shortage will be particularly felt by people in arid areas and by rapidly growing coastal populations and megacities. The increasing water scarcity, combined with its deteriorating quality, will have far reaching global impacts on human health, socio-economic development potential of affected countries, freshwater and marine resources, and biodiversity, and may cause international conflicts over water rights. Pollution of freshwater is escalating throughout the world, affecting in many places the quality of drinking water and the integrity of freshwater and coastal marine ecosystems. The freshwater hydrological cycles are inseparably linked with marine systems and the problems besetting river basins have profound impact on coastal and marine environment.