A roundabout approach to climate change

Global responses to water security reveal the possibilities of progress forged by unity, trust, and environmental renewal.

The Monitor's View

Perhaps one solution to global warming is not to deal with only greenhouse gas emissions. This November, at the next United Nations conference on climate change, a key focus will be on water safety and access – for the first time in the history of such gatherings. And there’s a reason for that. Shared concerns about water security are showing how a global conversation on one natural resource crisis can help build trust and shared responsibility to help solve another.

Water users on the Colorado River, for example, are finding new ways to cooperate and compromise amid a prolonged drought. That opens new opportunities for shared solutions on energy. In Africa, projects to generate safe drinking water have led to the creation of alternatives to the use of firewood and fossil fuels to boil water. Around the world, disrupted weather patterns are compelling scientists, business leaders, and policymakers to share information on water.

As the Global Commission on the Economics of Water observed in a recent report, “We can convert the water crisis to an immense global opportunity, for economy-wide innovation and a new social contract between all actors – with justice and equity at the centre of our efforts.”

Climate change has forced a new focus on other ecological issues, such as water. The U.N. estimates that 4 billion people globally live without consistent access to safe water sources and that by 2030 some 700 million people will be displaced by water insecurity. As a shared and renewable resource, water is amplifying humanity’s ability to defuse crisis through unity. Collaboration on water issues opens a new path for climate solutions.