Paul Castella’s Post

Water is one of our most precious resources, essential to life and central to our future. We must take collective responsibility for its preservation. 🌍💧 Explore practical tips for saving water at home and learn how investing in sustainable water infrastructure can make a difference for future generations. It's also vital to understand the role of water pollution and its inevitable impact on climate change, as well as the growing threat of water theft in times of crisis. #THRIVEProject #ThrivabilityMatters #THRIVEFramework 💡 Learn more here: 🌱 15 Tips to Save Water at Home https://lnkd.in/guY3e63C 🚰 Investing in Water Infrastructure https://lnkd.in/gUjFWuFs 🌍 Sustainable Water Management https://lnkd.in/gYCzQCPg ♻️ Avoid Water Pollution https://lnkd.in/g6UVwW2M 🚨 Water Theft in Crisis https://lnkd.in/gbF3A4DP

Highlighting parts of Executive Summary from the latest report of Global Commission on Economics of Water across posts as this needs to be the highest priority and most important object of focus urgently to sustain life on Earth! ******************** Part 1: From Crisis to Opportunity The world faces a growing water disaster. For the first time in human history, the hydrological cycle is out of balance, undermining an equitable and sustainable future for all. We can fix this crisis if we act more collectively, and with greater urgency. Vitally too, restoring stability of the water cycle is critical not only in its own right, but to avoid failing on climate change and safeguarding all the earth’s ecosystems, as well as on each and every one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will preserve food security, keep economies and job opportunities growing, and ensure a just and liveable future for everyone. Decades of collective mismanagement and undervaluation of water around the world have damaged our freshwater and land ecosystems and allowed for the continuing contamination of water resources. We can no longer count on freshwater availability for our collective future. More than 1,000 children under five die every day from illnesses caused by unsafe water and sanitation. Women and girls spend 200 million hours each day collecting and hauling water. Food systems are running out of fresh water, and cities are sinking as the aquifers underneath them run dry. We have, fundamentally, put the hydrological cycle itself under unprecedented stress, with growing consequences for communities and countries everywhere. Our policies, and the science and economics that underpin them, have also overlooked a critical freshwater resource, the “green water” in our soils and plant life, which ultimately circulates through the atmosphere and generates around half the rainfall we receive on land. Most gravely, while itself a victim of climate change, the degradation of freshwater ecosystems including the loss of moisture in the soil has become a driver of climate change and biodiversity loss. The result is more frequent and increasingly severe droughts, floods, heatwaves, and wildfires, playing out across the globe. And a future of growing water scarcity, with grave consequences for human security. Nearly 3 billion people and more than half of the world’s food production are now in areas where total water storage is projected to decline. We need bolder and more integrated thinking and a recasting of policy frameworks to address these challenges. Ref: https://lnkd.in/gE63G3Kk ****************** Healthy soil in the tropical regions like Amazon through reforestation, agriforestry is critical! #SaveSoil #RevitalizeRivers #PreventDeforestation #ForestsAreEssential #GreenUpToCoolDown

According to a recent report on "The Economics of Water" by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, we need a sea change to avoid irreversible collapse scenarios and massive suffering. Time to act, now! Here is a quick summary of this sobering report: "The world faces a growing water disaster. For the first time in human history, the hydrological cycle is out of balance, undermining an equitable and sustainable future for all. We can fix this crisis if we act more collectively, and with greater urgency. Vitally too, restoring stability of the water cycle is critical not only in its own right, but to avoid failing on climate change and safeguarding all the earth’s ecosystems, as well as on each and every one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will preserve food security, keep economies and job opportunities growing, and ensure a just and liveable future for everyone. Decades of collective mismanagement and undervaluation of water around the world have damaged our freshwater and land ecosystems and allowed for the continuing contamination of water resources. We can no longer count on freshwater availability for our collective future. More than 1,000 children under five die every day from illnesses caused by unsafe water and sanitation. Women and girls spend 200 million hours each day collecting and hauling water. Food systems are running out of fresh water, and cities are sinking as the aquifers underneath them run dry. We have, fundamentally, put the hydrological cycle itself under unprecedented stress, with growing consequences for communities and countries everywhere. Our policies, and the science and economics that underpin them, have also overlooked a critical freshwater resource, the “green water” in our soils and plant life, which ultimately circulates through the atmosphere and generates around half the rainfall we receive on land. Most gravely, while itself a victim of climate change, the degradation of freshwater ecosystems including the loss of moisture in the soil has become a driver of climate change and biodiversity loss. The result is more frequent and increasingly severe droughts, floods, heatwaves, and wildfires, playing out across the globe. And a future of growing water scarcity, with grave consequences for human security. Nearly 3 billion people and more than half of the world’s food production are now in areas where total water storage is projected to decline. We need bolder and more integrated thinking and a recasting of policy frameworks to address these challenges." To read the full report: https://lnkd.in/d-8_wxfe Photo credit: Executive Summary of "The Economics of Water: Valuing the Hydrological Cycle as a Global Common Good," p.10 #ActonClimate #Sustainability

Highlights from Report released by Global Commission on the Economics of water continued Part 3 - The costs of inaction The human and economic costs of inaction will be substantial. Globally, total water stored on and beneath the Earth’s surface is unstable and declining across areas where populations and economic activity are concentrated, and crops are grown. High-population density hotspots, including northwestern India, northeastern China and south and eastern Europe, are particularly vulnerable. The poorest 10% of the global population obtain over 70% of their annual precipitation from land-based sources and will be hardest hit by deforestation. If rainfall that originates from deforestation hotspots were to disappear, growth rates in Africa and South America could drop significantly – by 0.5 and 0.7 percentage points, respectively. Intensely irrigated regions tend to see declines in water storage with some experiencing a rate of decline twice as fast as other regions. If current trends persist, extreme water storage declines could make irrigation unfeasible, leading to a 23% reduction in global cereal production. The economic impacts of such trends will be severe. The combined effects of changing precipitation patterns and rising temperatures due to climate change, together with declining total water storage and lack of access to clean water and sanitation imply that high-income countries could see their GDPs shrink by 8% by 2050 on average, while lower-income countries could face even steeper declines of between 10% and 15%. Disruptions of the hydrological cycle therefore have major global economic impacts. The water challenge becomes even more pressing when we recognise how much water each person needs daily to live a dignified life. While 50 to 100 litres per day is required to meet essential health and hygiene needs, a dignified life – including adequate nutrition and consumption – requires a minimum of about 4,000 litres per person per day. Most regions cannot secure this much water locally. Although trade could help distribute water resources more equitably, it is hampered by misaligned policies and the water crisis itself. Part 2 - https://lnkd.in/gcaxp6e2 #SaveSoil #SoilForClimateAction

Part 2 - Why we must govern the water cycle as a global common good It starts with recognising that the problems we face are not only local. Communities, countries and regions are interdependent not just through transboundary blue water – as globally, more than 263 watersheds and 300 aquifers span political boundaries – but through atmospheric moisture flows that travel great distances. Current approaches tend to focus on water resources rather than the economic drivers that shape the water cycle. They also deal predominantly with the water we can see – the “blue water” in our rivers, lakes, and aquifers. They overlook a critical freshwater resource, namely “green water” – the water stored as soil moisture and in vegetation, which returns to the air through evaporation and transpiration. As it circulates naturally, green water generates around half of all rainfall over land, the very source of all our freshwater. Further, current approaches too often assume stable patterns of water supply year after year, but this is no longer true: as land-use changes and global warming destabilise the water cycle, rainfall patterns are shifting. Most dangerously, disruptions to the water cycle are deeply intertwined with climate change and the depletion of the world’s biodiversity, with each reinforcing the other. A stable supply of green water in soils is crucial to sustaining the natural systems that absorb more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted from fossil-fuel combustion. Yet the loss of wetlands and soil moisture, together with deforestation, is depleting some of the world’s most important carbon stores, accelerating global warming. In turn, rising temperatures trigger extreme heatwaves and increased moisture loss, severely drying landscapes and heightening the risk of wildfires. When viewed holistically, the impact of water scarcity on both people and nature now jeopardises virtually every one of the SDGs. Left unchecked, it will result in growing gaps in nutrition in populations already at risk, the greater spread of diseases, widening inequalities within and across nations, and increased conflicts and forced migration. The water cycle must therefore be governed as a global common good: recognising, first, our interdependence through both blue and green water flows; second, the wicked interaction between the water crisis, climate change, and the loss of the planet’s natural capital; and third, how water flows through all our 17 SDGs. A destabilised water cycle is a large-scale collective and systemic problem, which can only be fixed through concerted action in every country and collaboration across boundaries and cultures. A shared understanding of the common good is crucial. Part 1 - https://lnkd.in/eGGuuCHY Ref: https://lnkd.in/gE63G3Kk #SaveSoil #SoilForClimateAction

🌍💧 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁 On October 17th, the Global Commission on the Economics of Water raised alarms about the ongoing "water catastrophe." Experts warn that, for the first time in human history, the water cycle is imbalanced, endangering a sustainable future for all. Without urgent global action, this crisis could jeopardize over half of the world's food production by 2050 To address these challenges, the Commission outlines five key missions: 1 - Revolutionize food systems to optimize water use 2 - Restore ecosystems 3 - Create a circular water economy, focusing on industrial processes 4 - Harness clean energy and AI to reduce water consumption 5 - Ensure safe drinking water access for all by 2030 💡 The cost of inaction will be far greater than the cost of action. Link to the report: https://lnkd.in/eczsJEpF #FutureofWater #Sustainability #Watermanagement #Climateaction

🌍 The Global Water Crisis Is Reaching a Breaking Point 💧More than 3 billion people are already facing severe water shortages, and the consequences are alarming. Entire crops are dying, threatening food security, while cities are sinking as groundwater supplies run dry. A new report highlights an urgent reality: if we don’t take action now, the situation will spiral even further out of control. From agriculture to urban infrastructure, water depletion's ripple effects impact lives and livelihoods everywhere. But there is hope. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) offers a sustainable solution by harnessing the ocean’s thermal gradient to produce clean energy and unlimited desalinated water. This technology can help tackle water scarcity while driving economic growth in vulnerable regions. It’s time to prioritize innovative solutions like OTEC to protect our most precious resource. https://lnkd.in/gqnCMuYB #WaterCrisis #Sustainability #ClimateAction #GlobalImpact #WaterScarcity

Water is becoming a precious commodity. 💧 As prices soar, we're forced to rethink how we manage this vital resource. The latest Water Connections blog delves into the complexities of water pricing, exploring the delicate balance between affordability and conservation. ⚖️ Want to learn more about economic tools for water conservation and the economic impact of scarcity? Check out this Water Connections blog: https://lnkd.in/gXpxjJef #watermanagement #waterconservation #economics #sustainability #waterpricing #climateaction

🌊 Can economics solve our global water crisis? New research suggests YES! Fascinating study by Edward B. Barbier and Joanne C. Burgess at Colorado State University reveals surprising findings about water efficiency across 130 countries. Their 25-year analysis shows that smart market strategies could be the key to addressing water scarcity - and it's not just about conservation! 💧📈 Curious? We've broken down the complex economics into an engaging read on EngiSphere. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/e5z5ZVjV 💭 Question for discussion: How would you react if water was priced based on its true scarcity value in your region? PS: The success stories from EU and Pakistan will surprise you! 🌟 #WaterScarcity #Sustainability #Engineering #Economics #WaterManagement #ClimateAction #Innovation

Report: The global water cycle is off balance https://lnkd.in/gEGpXiiF Global Commission on the Economics of Water #water #food #agriculture #climatechange #environment #ecosystems #SDGs