Global Water Summit in Berlin: Water shortages can lead to wars (6)

Behare Bajraktari, Berlin

Journalist & Publicist/ Specialized in Climate Change and Environmental Journalism

Lack of water can lead to wars, it was said at this Summit. If not for water, at least for other natural resources as the war started in Ukraine and in some African countries.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is causing a major environmental crisis that is already being considered an environmental war crime, and experts say it may take years to fully understand the impact and damage caused. The damage is estimated at over 150 billion euros.

The environmental damage that Serbia has done in Kosovo has never been calculated, especially the pollution for the purpose of drinking water. As in this summit, the former ambassador of Ukraine to the USA, Valerii Chalyi, spoke about the environmental crimes of the war caused by Russia. While it is interesting the fact when he said that: “Next year the war will end”.

While natural resources have affected the economic development and political power of these countries, Europe has accelerated the “Green Agenda”, finding sources for energy supply and heating, but also for replacing fossil fuels with electric cars.

The EU aims to be climate neutral by 2050 – an economy with zero greenhouse gas emissions. This objective is at the heart of the “European Green Deal” and in line with the EU’s commitment to global climate action under the “Paris Agreement”. The transition to a climate-neutral society is an urgent challenge and an opportunity to build a better future for all. Europe aims to keep global temperature rise below 2°C and all this due to climate change.

The poor want more water, the rich want a price increase

In this summit, several issues about water were discussed, such as: price increase, technology, pollution, water systems, climate change and interstate water transmission.

World ‘heads’ gather to tackle water in face of climate crisis As the world grows, the current crisis could affect future climate policy by diverting resources and attention, says Ken Conca in his book, Professor of Government  global environmentalist and co-author of the book “Environmental Peacemaking”. He says that war in industrial areas creates huge risks of toxic contamination. Professor Conca is demanding from the international community that environmental crime be counted as a war crime. Kosovo can prove some environmental crimes committed by Serbia, because it may already be too late for many others.

1. Lack of access to safe water sources is a major risk factor for infectious diseases, including cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio.  According to the Global Burden of Disease study, 1.2 million people died prematurely in 2017 as a result of unsafe water. To put this in context: this was three times the number of murders in 2017 and equal to the number of people killed in road accidents globally.  In low-income countries, unsafe water sources account for 6% of deaths.

2. Investors at this Summit gathered to give direction to poor peoples and countries separately. Those who lack drinking water.

What becomes clear are the large differences in death rates between countries: rates are high in lower-income countries, particularly across sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.  Rates here are often greater than 50 deaths per 100,000 in the Central African Republic and Chad it was over 100 per 100,000 people.

Compare this with death rates in high-income countries: across Europe the rates are below 0.1 death per 100,000. This is a change greater than 1000 times according to the data ‘Our world in data’ – access to water.

How is Kosovo in this confrontation?

In terms of hydro-geology, the territory of Kosovo is relatively rich in surface waters (lakes, rivers, streams, etc.), and underground waters, thermal and thermometer waters. However, based on the hydro geological fact, the waters in Kosovo are still an enigma and unstudied in terms of quantity. While what is known about Kosovo’s waters is their quality, according to IHK.

In Kosovo, human health and meeting its needs is increasingly threatened by the lack of clean water.  The protection, preservation and monitoring of the quality of water resources is one of the biggest environmental challenges facing our society.  Industrial development, urbanization, intensive agriculture are just some of the factors that affect water pollution. Despite the continuous commitment, uncontrolled use of water resources and damage to river beds, still remains one of the forms of degradation of our water resources. For this reason, the need arose to create a tool for the management and permanent monitoring of data for our water resources. Therefore, through funding from the government of the Republic of Kosovo, the creation of the “Water Information System” was made possible.

Tomorrow: Water Quantity and Quality