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Securing our most precious resource

New approaches needed in water conservation to safeguard people’s lives, fight climate change

By AMIR LATI The author is the consul general of the State of Israel in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Macao SAR. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

We must explore new

With COVID-19 pandemic concerns receding, the world returned to focus on the most pressing existential threat — global warming and climate change, and their devastating effects on the world we live in. We believe that innovative technological solutions to the water crisis can be a central part of dealing with the climate crisis, for both adaptation and mitigation.

One of the main areas critically affected by climate change is the global rainfall cycle, resulting in less rain, more droughts and extreme rain events bringing with them more destruction than blessings.

Hong Kong is no stranger to such tendency. In fact, the Hong Kong Observatory says in its recently released annual outlook for 2023 that the city would be affected by heavy rain and that the annual mean temperature is expected to be above normal, with a high chance of reaching the warmest 10 on record.

The close connection between the water crisis and the climate crisis was noted in the COP27 summary statement and was a central theme at the UN Water Conference that opened on March 22, World Water Day, at the UN headquarters in New York.

While many places in the world have full access to clean tap water, in many others, this accessibility is limited and almost nonexistent. It is estimated that some 2.5 billion people (36 percent of the world’s population) live in water-scarce areas, a phenomenon that is expected to worsen in coming decades as climate change, global population growth, growing demand for industrial and agricultural products, and desertification intensify.

Water scarcity is causing migration, wars and conflicts, and placing hundreds of millions of people around the world at risk of displacement over the coming years.

To overcome this phenomenon and anticipate a cure for this ailment, we must understand that this will entail formulating a comprehensive campaign which will require that all necessary steps be integrated together, such as: guide and educate on water conservation; increase water use efficiency; gather international, public, and private funding; rehabilitate polluted water sources; encourage investments and R&D; and, first and foremost, learn how to practice good water management at the local, national, regional and global scale.

We must explore new approaches towards investing in water and sanitation-related infrastructures and services, while ensuring each person’s right to safe drinking water. It is important that emphasis be placed on the availability and sharing of information about the amount, quality, distribution, and access to water, as well as of the risks and use of that water.

In this regard, Israel can make a significant contribution to the world, as a country with one of the most advanced water systems in the world and with an abundance of R&D and innovative technologies in many fields. One example is the treatment and recycling of sewage: Israel holds a world record in this field — with 95 percent of its wastewater being treated, from which almost 90 percent is used in agriculture.

Another field in which Israel holds a world record is the prevention of water loss in urban systems.

In Israel, a comprehensive variety of technologies and methods have been developed to prevent water loss in supply systems, detect leaks through remote sensors, and more.

If this was the status quo the world over, it would be possible to greatly reduce and prevent environmental pollution and the destruction of natural systems, all the while allowing treated and purified water to flow back into nature and agriculture. It would be possible to simultaneously reduce large-scale emission of greenhouse gases, build agricultural resilience against climate change, and allow more water in nature for eco systems — which naturally absorb greenhouse gases — to prevent unnecessary destruction of ecological systems as the result of pollution or water scarcity, and much more.

Seawater desalination, the use of brackish water in agriculture, drip irrigation, the development of agricultural varieties that consume less water, and even the extraction of water from air, are all fields that are developed in Israel.

We in Israel are able and willing to share our accumulated knowhow and best practices with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Chinese mainland and fellow nations around the world, so that together, we will assure that every individual across the globe will be able to enjoy the essential human right to safe and clean water.

Water is life.

approaches towards

investing in water and

sanitation-related

infrastructures

and services, while

ensuring each

person’s right to

safe drinking water.

It is important that

emphasis be placed

on the availability and

sharing of information

about the amount,

quality, distribution,

and access to water,

as well as of the risks

and use of that water.

COMMENT

en-us

2023-03-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://chinadaily.pressreader.com/article/281956022032927

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