Global Water Outlook to 2025: Averting an Impending Crisis

The report examines the future of global water resources and their impact on food security, projecting increased water scarcity and its consequences on agriculture and the environment by 2025. It presents three scenarios: business as usual, water crisis, and sustainable water management, and explores policy changes that could mitigate the impending crisis.

(Generated with the help of GPT-4)

The research method involved the development and use of the IMPACT-WATER model, which integrates the International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade (IMPACT) with a Water Simulation Model (WSM). This model simulates global water availability, demand, and use at the river basin scale, considering factors such as climate, water use efficiency, infrastructure, and environmental requirements.

(Generated with the help of GPT-4)

The report uses the IMPACT-WATER model to project global water and food scenarios to 2025. It predicts severe water scarcity under current trends, with significant implications for food production and prices. The business as usual scenario leads to modest increases in water scarcity, while the water crisis scenario results in a severe crisis with high food prices and reduced food consumption. The sustainable water scenario shows that with improved policies and investments, food production can be maintained while increasing environmental flows and achieving universal access to piped water.

(Generated with the help of GPT-4)

Categories: 2020s time horizon | 2025 time horizon | English publication language | Global geographic scope | agriculture | environmental sustainability | food production | food security | irrigation | rainfed agriculture | water | water management | water policy | water pricing | water scarcity