This paper discusses a methodology to forecast conflict up to a year in advance. The model is a product of the Water, Peace, and Security partnership, which is pioneering the development of public information tools and approaches that can support evidence-based actions to reduce security risks and promote water cooperation.
New WRI research shows how countries can achieve water security for all by 2030. The economic benefits of investing in sustainable water management far outweigh the costs.
About 2,000 administrative districts across the Global South — about 14% of all surveyed — are at risk of violent conflict between October 2019 and September 2020.
This paper provides quantitative evidence to help investors better understand and measure the financial impacts from water shortages in the thermal power sector, drawing on data and analysis of Indian companies. It introduces a new methodology to estimate the water shortage-induced impacts to earnings on five Indian thermal power companies from FY 2014-2017. It also uses outputs from climate models to analyze potential future changes to water availability in India, which could increase the risk of water shortages.
African countries face some of the highest water risk in the world, now exacerbated by climate change. But management and investment are often bigger challenges. Tackling them can strengthen economies and build countries' resilience to climate change.
New research finds millions have access only a few hours a day, while others are forced to pay up to a quarter of monthly household income for private provision.
New data on WRI's Aqueduct platform ranks the world's countries from least to most water-stressed.
This paper discusses updates to the Aqueduct™ 3.0 water risk framework, that is used, among other things, as underlying database for the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas and Country Rankings.
More than 700 coastal areas are affected by algal growth and dead zones, despite a growing number of global agreements to reduce water pollution.
WRI Water Program Director Betsy Otto argues the world needs to make water security a top priority and outlines three key steps we can take, taking a global perspective with examples from the United States and Ethiopia.
Advancing sustainable water management in the private sector by driving innovation in water-related data, tools and strategies.
Water crises can shake societies, destroy livelihoods and threaten prosperity for decades. They can also be the spark that sets aflame a powder keg of social and political issues, resulting in violent conflict.
From the foothills of the Taurus Mountains in Turkey to the desert wadis on the southern tip of Yemen, the history of water conflicts provides a cautionary tale: When water and politics mix, freshwater can become both a weapon and a threat to national security.
This paper reviews the key drivers behind growing water risk, describes and illustrates water and security pathways, and presents approaches for reducing water related risks to global security.
Building on decades of work across the continent, World Resources Institute inaugurated a new regional office, WRI Africa, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Power from solar and wind requires zero or little water, unlike coal, gas and other forms of thermal power. Renewable energy can therefore be particularly attractive to water-stressed countries looking to meet their increasing electricity demands without producing emissions.
While more than one-third of China still suffers from high water stress, there are signs of improvement: New WRI analysis shows that the rate of increase in the country's water withdrawals has slowed from 5.1 billion cubic meters per year in 2001-2010 to 1.6 billion cubic meters per year from 2010-2015.
Cape Town, South Africa has been in the news for its impending "Day Zero," when the city will shut off taps and start rationing water, but its reservoirs aren't the only ones shrinking. Satellite images reveal dwindling water supplies in Morocco, India, Iraq and Spain.
Today, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management Sustainability Initiative released a new technical note, Mapping Public Water Management by Harmonizing and Sharing Corporate Water Risk Information, that proposes a method for closing this data gap.
Cape Town, South Africa is poised to shut off water taps for homes and businesses in the next few months. Is the next "Day Zero" coming to a city near you?