Water and energy - Florencia Bunge

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Water and energy
By: Florencia Bunge
On Saturday March 22 is the World Water Day. Water is an essential natural resource
for any nation, access is a human right that must be guaranteed by States to be
fundamental for the integral development of the people and for the eradication of
poverty.
As once Ismael Serageldin said, World Bank Vice President in 1995, "If the wars of this
century were about oil, the twenty-first century will be over wáter”. This, because even
though access to potable water has increased in recent decades in the earth's surface,
FAO studies estimate that one in five developing countries have water shortages by
2030.
The United Nations, each year, links this day with a specific area. This year I was
struck to see that is devoted to the correlation between water and energy. I know the
link between the two for a long time, since all energy sources used water at different
stages of the production process, but the figures provided by UN are really noticeable.
In this regard, they note that up to 90% increase in water use will come from
countries in transition to economic development, the demand for renewable energy will
grow by 60% until 2030 (WWAP, 2009 and EIA, 2010) and estimated that global
energy consumption will increase by 50% between 2007 and 2035.
Therefore, I am one hundred percent agree with the call that was made this year by
the International Organism, which advocates that the problems of water and energy
don´t have to be seen as two separate challenges. We must be aware of the demand
for water and energy is increasing in emerging economies, where agriculture, industry
and cities develop at a rapid pace.
Countries should lead the debate and propose public policies that establish a roadmap
to this great challenge. As Irina Bokova said, Director-General of UNESCO, in his
message to mark World Water Day "on the planet there is enough water for all states.
What we lack is even better governance and collective courage to reach equitable
agreements that should be based on research results and reliable data”.
This article has been based on Florencia Bunge personal opinion.