26/01/2026
🌍 The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) flagship report, Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era, reveals that decades of unsustainable water use, pollution, and climate pressures have pushed many river basins and aquifers beyond the point of recovery.
The report makes a bold and sobering point:
📌 Water systems around the world are not merely stressed - they are already in a post-crisis state where historical “normal” conditions cannot be restored.
Key takeaways include:
💧 Chronic overuse of renewable water flows and depletion of natural stores like aquifers, glaciers and wetlands
💧 An urgent need to shift from short-term emergency response to long-term “bankruptcy management”
💧 Water as an opportunity for peace, climate resilience, food security, and social equity
💧 Need for a recalibration of global water governance - through limits, transparent accounting, and equitable transitions for communities
For the region - where water resources face pressures from agriculture, urban demand, climate variability, and transboundary governance challenges - this report reinforces why integrated water management, sustainable investments, and collaborative governance must be central to our shared agenda.
📄 Read/download the full UNU-INWEH report here: https://unu.edu/inweh/collection/global-water-bankruptcy
Living Beyond our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era
