Union for the Mediterranean calls for regional action to tackle water scarcity

Freshwater availability is likely to decrease by 15% in the coming decades
EPA-EFE/ABIR SULTAN
A general view of the Hadera seawater desalination plant in Hadera, Israel. The Water and Environment Support (WES) will implement its activities from June onwards in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Libya, Palestine and Tunisia.

- Advertisement -

In light of World Water day on March 22, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) has called for regional dialogue to address common challenges related to water scarcity.
The region’s population classified as “water-poor” is expected to increase to over 250 million within 20 years, UfM said in a press release, citing the first-ever scientific report on the impact of climate and environmental change in the Mediterranean.
According to the report, irrigation represents between 50% and 90% of the total Mediterranean water demand and the demand is projected to increase up to 18% by the end of the century due to climate change alone. Satisfying the increasing demand for good quality drinking water and water for irrigation is a complex challenge, often involving disagreement between users of groundwater and landowners, or between countries.
Twenty-five years after the launch of the Barcelona Process, a Euro-Mediterranean regional approach is more than ever relevant to tackle climate change and water scarcity issues, the UfM said. At the core of its mission, and within the framework of the ministerial mandate entrusted to it, the Union for the Mediterranean emphasised the need for a regional dialogue through its Water Agenda to ensure that each and every Euro-Mediterranean country receives the necessary technical, administrative, and financial recommendations to help achieve water security for its population and their economic activities, taking into account its impact on agriculture, employment, hygiene and climate change.
The UfM has conducted a mapping of the region’s water financial needs and has developed a regional Water Agenda setting out a series of technical and financial recommendations to leverage investments and propose new operational and innovative partnerships, notably through sustainable financing. Technical workshops have taken place in Lebanon, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Greece, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and others are to be held this year, namely in Tunisia and Jordan.
“Addressing the pressing challenge of water scarcity, which is nowadays exacerbated by the consequences of climate change, is fundamental to contribute to stability in our region. All the activities implemented under the UfM Water Agenda aim to ensure access to safe drinking water as a fundamental human right and with a particular focus of leaving no one behind,” said UfM Deputy Secretary General for Water, Environment and Blue Economy Isidro González.
This regional initiative is implemented to help achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal, “Ensure access to water and sanitation for all”, in the Euro-Mediterranean area, the press release read. The UfM Water Agenda aims to facilitate general access to sanitation services, including in rural areas, by sharing best and adapted practices from prior experiences in UfM countries. This includes the improvement of treated wastewater reuse as a nonconventional resource that can contribute to mitigating local water shortage.
The Water and Environment Support (WES), a EU-funded project part of the UfM Water Agenda, will focus on strengthening the efficient use of water in urban and rural areas, the appropriate treatment of waste water to allow for its use/re-use, as well as the cost-recovery and affordability of water services. WES will implement its activities from June onwards in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Libya, Palestine and Tunisia.
The Integrated Program for protection of the Lake Bizerte against pollution, endorsed by the UfM Member States, seeks to contribute majorly to the depollution of the Lake of Bizerte, in northern Tunisia, and reduce indirect pollution impacting the Mediterranean Sea, thereby improving the environmental and socio-economic conditions for more than 400,000 inhabitants.
According to UfM, the “Desalination Facility for the Gaza strip” project will supply drinking water to 2 million Palestinian inhabitants, ensuring a sustainable solution for the chronic and longstanding water shortage and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where over 95% of the water is not drinkable due to the over-pumping of a polluting coastal aquifer.
 

- Advertisement -

Subscribe to our newsletter

Co-founder / Director of Energy & Climate Policy and Security at NE Global Media

Latest

Kazakhstan accelerates digital transformation with new visa options

Upgrading its visa regime for skilled foreign workers and...

A Code of Conduct for the HR Outsourcing sector

The quote - often attributed to Deng Xiaoping -...

T is for tariffs

If the quick freeze and attempted shut down of...

EU officially implements landmark AI law

The EU officially implemented its new landmark AI law...

Don't miss

Kazakhstan accelerates digital transformation with new visa options

Upgrading its visa regime for skilled foreign workers and...

A Code of Conduct for the HR Outsourcing sector

The quote - often attributed to Deng Xiaoping -...

T is for tariffs

If the quick freeze and attempted shut down of...

EU officially implements landmark AI law

The EU officially implemented its new landmark AI law...

Trump administration unleashes first sanctions on Iranian shadow fleet

On February 6, the Department of the Treasury unleashed...

The New Face of an Old Enemy: The renewed dangers of ISIS and al-Qaeda

A dangerous cocktail of indifference and complacency enabled al-Qaeda to evolve from a shadowy fringe network in the early 1990s into one of the...

Donald Trump is inaugurated amidst promises of security, stability and prosperity

After storming a frigid Washington D.C. during his extended inauguration festivities on January 20, Donald J Trump, America’s 47th and 45th President, launched a...

Undeclared “open season” on energy infrastructure in Europe

Russia is claiming it has shot down nine Ukrainian drones that tried to attack the TurkStream pipeline, which carries Russian gas to Europe through...

NATO and EU strengthen Baltic Sea infrastructure protection after Estlink2 undersea power cable damaged

The damage of an undersea power cable off the coast of Finland in the Baltic Sea is the latest in a series of suspected...

After Baku, Belem COP to strengthen Paris Agreement

After the controversial agreement at COP29 in Baku, NE Global sat down with Professor Gregg Walker, a COP veteran, for a close analysis of...

EU searches for alternatives before Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine stops

The Ukrainian government has repeatedly stated that it will not extend a transit agreement, which has provided political, commercial, technical and legal grounds for...

OPEC+ postpones plans to increase production over supply unease

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, known collectively as OPEC+, decided on December 5 to delay its planned...

Biden administration takes final steps to counter global corruption and human rights abuses

Announcing a global grab-bag of new sanctions, possibly some of its last, the Biden administration took major steps on December 9 by authorizing new...