WWF’s report warned of the water supply crisis on the occasion of World Food Day

In its report entitled The High Cost of Cheap Water, WWF drew attention to the fact that water is at the center of a growing global crisis that threatens not only food security, but also the health of people and the planet.

The report highlighted that the annual economic value of water and freshwater ecosystems, wetlands, is estimated to be 58 trillion dollars, which is equal to 60 percent of global GDP. Household water use, agricultural irrigation and industrial water consumption amount to at least 7.5 trillion dollars annually. Purifying water, improving soil health, storing carbon dioxide, and protecting communities from extreme floods and droughts, on the other hand, costs seven times that amount, about 50 thousand billion dollars annually. At the same time, problems related to the world’s freshwater ecosystems pose a growing threat.