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Water
Human, animal and environmental health form a single unit - with a very significant impact on the perspectives of sustainable development. The COVID 19 pandemic is not the first time that the close link between human, animal and environmental health is demonstrated. As a result, the concept of "One Health" has also gained importance on the political agenda. To implement it, KfW Development Bank is pursuing a series of approaches which are presented and evaluated in a new interdisciplinary specialist publication. The commitment in agriculture, for example, the preservation of biodiversity, water and natural resources and health protection already contributes to the goals of One Health. In future, it will be increasingly important to take interactions between sectors and structural interrelationships into account.
"Day Zero" has become the code for the day when cities run out of water. In Cape Town this almost happened in 2018. The tapered message of "Day Zero" describes the risks of water shortages in urban centres and warns politicians, managers and planners to make the cities of tomorrow water-resistant. On the occasion of World Water Day 2020 (22 March), "Development in Brief” describes how City Water Resilience can be implemented worldwide.
More than two billion people around the world live in regions with high water stress, where considerable amounts of the available and renewable water resources such as groundwater and surface water are overused. By 2050, global demand for water will increase by 55% as a result of high agricultural and industrial demand, population growth and climate change. In addition to improved demand management and further possibilities for the exploitation of water resources, the reuse of treated water represents an opportunity to increase the availability of freshwater resources and thus also to improve water security.
This issue of Development in Brief highlights the reuse of treated wastewater and addresses the potential and challenges for development cooperation projects in particular.
Water reuse: suitable to combat water stress?(PDF, 162 KB, accessible)
Water is vital for sustaining life, however, ever more regions around the world are suffering from water shortage. And it is especially in these places that complicated conflicts and crises are often observed.
Is there a connection between water as a resource and the conflicts there? What repercussions do crises and conflicts have on the national and local water supply? In this edition of Development in Brief, we demonstrate interrelationships using the Middle East as an example, and formulate action needed by financial cooperation.
For 15 years, the United Nations has organised World Water Day on 22 March. This year, the theme of the event is “Leaving No One Behind”. The core message is that the current progress made in water and sanitation is not enough to achieve the stated goal of the international community of “access for all” by 2030.
The current issue of Development in Brief shows that this challenge is not only about providing new access, but also about maintaining existing access in view of decreasing water availability, and highlights the role of functioning systems in this process.
Water for all: no universal supply without sustainable capacities(PDF, 133 KB, accessible)
For 15 years, the United Nations has organised World Water Day in March. This year’s motto of the event was "The Answer is in Nature". The core message is that making use of the natural potential of ecosystems like rivers with floodplains or bogs can also be sustainable and cost-efficient solutions for bringing the water cycle back into balance, mitigating the impacts of climate change and improving our living conditions.
The current issue of Development in Brief presents the concept of nature-based approaches and analyses under which conditions it can be a sensible alternative to conventional approaches.
Protecting scarce water resources with nature-based solutions
