A REPORT by the United Nations published this weekend draws attention to a vital resource that is frequently overlooked - water. The report makes disturbing reading.
The water equation is simple, and deadly. The world will need 40 per cent more fresh water than was used in 1995 to cater for the extra three billion people who will be alive by 2025.
The report, drafted by the staff of Unesco's World Water Commission, sounds a wake-up call for all nations, particularly those that have so far failed to address the twin problem of increasing population and declining water supply.
Estimates for water needed for agriculture, industry and living are between 4,279 and 5,235 cubic kilometres, up from 3,788 cubic kilometres in 1995.
Disturbing as the report's findings are, they are simply the latest in a long line of similar dire predictions.
Early last year, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned that the scarcity of fresh water was becoming the most likely trigger for future military conflict.