African village
At the moment, energy production requires 15% of the world’s water supplies, and in the future until 2030 or 2035 we can expect an increased use of water supplies up to 20%, and way over 50% by 2050.
Much of this trend is caused by countries like China and India or the Middle East because in these areas population is growing in a rate much higher than in the rest of the world.
The increased demand for energy and water supplies all over the world, is not caused only by the growing populations, it is caused also by the lifestyle changes and the quick evolution in consumption patterns of the consumers. All these changes combined with the increased number of individuals put great pressure on already diminished resources.
The conventional exploitation of oil and natural gases along with fracking and biofuels production require large amounts of water, but also the huge rate of population growth in some areas of the planet, require the same water supplies without which they cannot live or develop.
It is obvious that population growth is not controlled in some areas from Asia, especially if we know that in the world we still have almost 1 billion individuals that have no clean water at disposal, more than 1,3 billion have no access to electricity or natural gases and around 2,5 billion are cooking using antique techniques that require wood or biofuel burning.
In areas with continuous drought even those who have pledged to donate money for water and sanitation have not been able to achieve their promises largely due to the changes in the economic sector and the financial crisis that hit the civilized world in the period of 2008 and 2012. Due to these issues, donor aid has delivered only $53.6 billions instead of the promised $80 billions through the period of 2002 to 2012.
Some studies say that in many African countries like Congo and Mauritius the situation regarding clean water and sanitation can be very different. In Mauritius, which is an island nation from the Indian Ocean located at about 1,200 miles off the southeast coast of the African continent, more than 90% of the population has access to clean water and sanitation. On the other hand, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than 50% of the population live like in antiquity because they don’t have access to drinking water, sanitation or other services that are very common in the civilized world.
As we know, the objective proposed by the international help is to aid the world’s most poor populaces to leave poverty behind, and become normal and civilized populaces that live healthy, balanced and happy lives. The issue here is with the distribution of the aid of these poor countries. The most clean water and sanitation help is not being targeted for those that are in desperate need for these services.
The major goal to reduce the number of individuals that have no access to clean water and sanitation has not been yet achieved even if the target was set for the year 2015. The steps to take are way behind, and the major divide between different areas of the planet are more than obvious.
While some of the richest areas have access to huge quantities of food, clean water and sanitation, other areas in poor countries still starve and live at the mercy of mother nature.