ABU DHABI // The UAE faces tremendous challenges in becoming environmentally sustainable and more resilient to climate change, according to a high-ranking UN official.
Dr Han Seung-Soo, the UN’s special envoy on Disaster Risk Reduction and Water and former prime minister of Korea, said the UAE was regarded as one of the driest countries in the world, with its renewable water resources far below the UN water scarcity threshold of 1,000 cubic metres per capita per annum.
“The UAE’s is 83 cubic metres,” he said at the opening ceremony of the International Water Summit in Abu Dhabi. “Such demand has been met through the exploitation of groundwater resources and desalinated water. But the total water consumption exceeds 24 times the natural recharge capacity whereas groundwater supply has fallen by 18 per cent since 2003.”
According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, 1.8 billion people will suffer from lack of water by 2025.
“The main average temperature of the world in the 21st century will rise 3.7°C and the sea level will rise up 63cm on average,” Dr Han said. “An increase of precipitation intensity and imbalance will also be observed and frequency of water related disasters will increase.”
cmalek@thenational.ae
