Erick Burgueño Salas
Research expert covering climate change and the water industry
Get in touch with us nowThe inequality of water access
While access to water and sanitation are basic human rights, water inequality remains a major issue worldwide. Although the number of people without basic drinking water services has declined by 40 percent over the past two decades, there were still roughly 700 million people lacking basic drinking water in 2022. More than half lived in Sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, the number of people without basic drinking water in the region increased by an estimated 60 million since the beginning of the century. In 2022, more than 15 percent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa relied on unimproved or surface water sources. In comparison, most of the drinking water in developed countries like the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand was safely managed. Unsafe water sources can exacerbate malnutrition and are one of the leading risk factors for infectious diseases such as cholera, dysentery, and polio.The varying access to water worldwide also creates considerable gaps in basic hygiene services. Eight percent of the global population had no access to basic handwashing facilities at home in 2022. Once again, the largest proportion affected by the lack of facilities with water and soap were in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Togo, almost three-quarters of the population did not have access to handwashing facilities, the lowest coverage of this service worldwide. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) aim to increase clean water access and improve sanitation services around the globe.
Water stress and scarcity
Many countries around the world face water stress, especially in arid regions. The Middle East is home to some of the most water-dependent countries in the world, such as Kuwait and Bahrain, whose lack of water resources has resulted in a reliance on desalination plants. While desalination can help substitute the lack of freshwater, the process is incredibly energy-intensive and often environmentally problematic.With rising temperatures and a change in rainfall patterns , other regions which normally do not experience drought conditions are facing them more often. Between 2022 and 2023, 23 countries declared drought emergencies in their territories, with India and Sri Lanka the latest ones, in August 2023. Such conditions are not only directly affecting the population, but are also building up tensions between communities. In 2022, 251 water-related conflicts were reported worldwide, the highest figure recorded this century
