XIAMEN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Three billion people, or 46 percent of the
world's population will suffer water shortages by 2025, experts warned here
Thursday.
The prediction was made by Prof. Jan C. Schippers, a researcher with the
UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, and was echoed by other participants
at the International Forum for Coastal Cities, opened Thursday in Xiamen, a
southeastern city in China.
Currently, about a billion people around the globe are plagued by water
shortages and that number continues to climb.
Water shortages, which are especially acute in North China, North Africa
and East Asia, have been worsened by drought, pollution, waste and bad
management, according to Schippers.
Water shortages are serious in China, said Hu Siyi, vice minister of the
Ministry of Water Resources.
"Over 400 cities in China, or nearly two thirds of the total, are
undersupplied with water. Water shortages have reduced agricultural output by 35
billion kilograms each year and caused serious environment problems," Hu said.
China's per capita water resources are only a quarter of the world's
average, according to Chen Lianzeng, deputy director of the State Oceanic
Administration.
Every country should execute effective water policies, strictly control
exploitation of ground water and protect the integrity and safety of rivers and
seas, said Chua Thia-Eng, regional program director of PEMSEA (Partnership on
Environment Management for the Seas of East Asia). Enditem
