The World Bank has said in a report that the Middle East and North Africa needs water resilience for overall growth.
Without it, the region may see a loss of 6-14 percent of the collective GDP by 2050, it said, citing an earlier report.
In the current two-volume report titled Ebb and Flow, the global body called for better policies to combat water scarcity across the world in general and the Mena region in particular.
In the first volume, the report elaborated the monetary effects of water scarcity, explaining that a drought can reduce a city’s economic growth by up to 12 percent.
It said: “Although adapting to these events can be expensive, it is crucial to invest in policies and infrastructure that enhance urban water resilience because cities drive economic growth.”
The report called for cities to recycle wastewater, and capture rainwater and run-off.
It also pointed out: “Globally, 6 percent of water and sanitation subsidies go to the poorest 20 percent, while 56 percent goes to the wealthiest 20 percent. Such subsidies entrench inequality and reward inefficiency.”
Such subsidies make water cheap, which leads to its overuse, and that is something that should be stopped, it said.
The second volume of the report focused on the Mena region, saying that it has the world’s highest levels of forced displacement, “with an estimated 7.2 million refugees, of whom 2.7 million are hosted in the region, and 12.4 million internally displaced people fleeing protracted armed conflicts.”
It added: “It is also the world’s most water-scarce region, with over 60 percent of the population living in areas with high water stress, compared with 35 percent globally.”
The report then went on to explain that climate change in areas that lack good governance could exacerbate vulnerabilities and tensions over water resources, leading to a vicious cycle of water insecurity and fragility.
It also said: “Access to safe drinking water is a daily struggle for millions of forcibly displaced Iraqis, Libyans, Palestinians, Syrians, Yemenis, and international migrants in the region.”
The report, however, also pointed out that water-related events in the region have been more cooperative than anything else.
It elaborated: “Of 975 water events involving international river basins in Mena between 1948 and 2008, 56% were cooperative, 37% conflictive and 8% neutral.”
However, there are apprehensions of more conflict as water scarcity rises in the region.
To combat that, the World Bank ultimately urged for a broad policy focus that should start with an integrated framework to respond to water risks.
It also called for interventions from the grassroot level to the national level to build infrastructure that would increase water resilience.
The report also warned policymakers of the region that they would have to face tradeoffs when considering short-term and long-term goals.
It said: “Failure to recognize and manage these trade-offs can significantly undermine water security prospects for the forcibly displaced and their host communities.”