Experts say UK water use ‘worsening global crisis’

LONDON - The report, focusing on the UK, says two-thirds of the water used to make UK imports is used outside its borders.

The BBC quotes the Engineering the Future alliance of professional engineering bodies, as saying this is unsustainable, given population growth and climate change.

It says countries such as the UK must help poorer nations curb water use.

“We must take account of how our water footprint is impacting on the rest of the world,” said Professor Roger Falconer, director of the Hydro-Environmental Research Centre at Cardiff University and a member of the report’s steering committee.

Professor Peter Guthrie, head of the Centre for Sustainable Development at Cambridge University, said: “If we are to prevent the ‘perfect storm’, urgent action is necessary.”

Forecasts suggest that when the world’s population soars beyond eight billion in 20 years time, the global demand for food and energy will jump by 50 percent, with the need for fresh water rising by 30 percent.

But developing countries are already using significant proportions of their water to grow food and produce goods for consumption in the West, the report says. (ANI)