Reassessing the projections of the World Water Development Report

TLDR

Nearly 6 billion people are projected to lack clean water by 2050, a figure that may underestimate the impact of rising demand, shrinking resources, and pollution, underscoring the need for regulated growth and stricter water‑management rules. The paper argues that population and economic expansion drive water demand, resource depletion, and pollution, and that addressing these links at the local level is essential for effective water‑scarcity mitigation.

Abstract

Abstract The 2018 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report stated that nearly 6 billion peoples will suffer from clean water scarcity by 2050. This is the result of increasing demand for water, reduction of water resources, and increasing pollution of water, driven by dramatic population and economic growth. It is suggested that this number may be an underestimation, and scarcity of clean water by 2050 may be worse as the effects of the three drivers of water scarcity, as well as of unequal growth, accessibility and needs, are underrated. While the report promotes the spontaneous adoption of nature-based-solutions within an unconstrained population and economic expansion, there is an urgent need to regulate demography and economy, while enforcing clear rules to limit pollution, preserve aquifers and save water, equally applying everywhere. The aim of this paper is to highlight the inter-linkage in between population and economic growth and water demand, resources and pollution, that ultimately drive water scarcity, and the relevance of these aspects in local, rather than global, perspective, with a view to stimulating debate.