Water Security

To be water secure broadly means having access to sufficient, safe and reliable water to sustain daily needs while being protected against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters (e.g. floods, storms etc.). Indeed, water is essential to every aspect of our lives and livelihoods. We need water for our basic daily human needs, as well as for food, energy and industrial production and for maintaining the environment around us. Lack of access to sufficient and good-enough quality water affects our health and our ability to thrive. Too much water causes damage, destruction and sometimes, death.  

Climate change affects our ability to meet and improve water security from the local to the global levels. According to the UN, the climate crisis is primarily a water crisis. As warming disrupts hydrological systems, we feel the impacts of climate change through worsening floods, droughts, storms and cyclones, unpredictable precipitation, deteriorating water-quality and rising sea levels. These impacts are largely unequal, with the poorest and more vulnerable being disproportionately affected, and often having the least means to adapt in the longer term. The UN estimates that by 2050, 5.7 billion people will be living in areas experiencing water scarcity for at least one month per year. The economic impacts could be drastic, likely spurring migration and sparking conflict. 

While water security is threatened by climate change, it is also central to our ability to adapt to climate impact. Improving the way we manage water – through both technical strategies as well as socio-economic responses – is central to building resilience and supporting climate adaptation. 

This Water Security theme sheds light on the links between water security, climate and climate adaptation, highlighting the challenges and barriers to building water security, as well as sharing concrete examples of how water can be sustainable managed to build climate resilience for communities, economies and ecosystems. You can find water-related content in other themes, notably: 

• Adaptation in Mountains; 
• Adaptation without borders; 
• Cities and Climate Change; 
• Climate, Food Security and Agriculture;  
• Disasters and Climate Change; 
• Gender and social Equity; 
• Governance, Institutions and Policy; 
• Nature-Based Solutions;