Clean Water Vital for Protecting Those on the Frontline of Climate Change in Post-Pandemic World

A woman in Madagascar walks for up to 14km a day to find clean water. Credit: UNICEF/Safidy AndrianantenainBy Jonathan FarrLONDON, Mar 19 2021 (IPS) For many, the last year will be remembered as the time our day-to-day lives screeched to a halt. As Covid-19 spread mercilessly across the world, wreaking havoc on health and livelihoods, world leaders, health experts and scientists grappled with how to protect populations and stem the tide of the virus. It is right that attention has been focused on the immediate threat posed by the pandemic; the global death toll has surpassed 2.6 million people and we have suffered the worst decline in the global economy since the Great Depression of the 1930s. But while coronavirus has consumed every aspect of our monotonous daily existence for the past year, as we build back, we have a moral responsibility to ensure nobody is left behind as we tackle an even bigger global crisis – climate change. With our world warming at an alarming rate, it is becoming harder for the world’s poorest people to get clean water. WaterAid’s latest report: “Turn the tide: The state of the world’s water 2021” highlights how people are losing access to clean water and why it is a matter of utmost urgency that we take steps to protect people living in the most climate vulnerable countries of the world. The 2.2 billion people who do not have a reliable and safe supply of water are without the most fundamental protection against climate change. Extre...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Aid Climate Change Development & Aid Environment Featured Global Headlines Health Population Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Water & Sanitation Source Type: news