Europe's water crisis: How bad is it and what can be done?

euronews (in English)

30% of the EU population has been impacted by strained water supplies in recent years. With the situation only set to get worse, what does this mean for Europe and how can it manage the situation?

Transcript

00:00 As global temperatures continue to rise, droughts and water scarcity are no longer a rarity

00:05 in Europe. 30% of the European population is already affected, with the UN focusing

00:11 its World Food Day on water. In the coming decades, the situation is set to get worse

00:17 and the agricultural industry hits hard.

00:20 Some of the food products cannot be produced anymore in southern parts of Europe because

00:27 it's getting too hot.

00:28 People think that UK is a rainy country, but actually we've been experiencing drought as

00:33 well and places like this provide important agriculture for us.

00:37 The world's growing population predicted to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and a rising middle

00:43 class are fueling the strain.

00:46 People in general, they are getting richer and when people are getting richer, they are

00:51 using more resources, not only water resources but also land and they eat more, they have

01:01 more variety in their diet.

01:03 And other industries such as the energy sector are also set to be impacted.

01:09 As we move into a net zero era, a clean energy era, we are moving towards things like hydropower

01:16 for sure, but if we have less water in our rivers, it means that we won't be able to

01:22 rely on hydropower and actually we're turning to coal and gas, things that we consider dirty

01:28 still has to be in place if we are going to meet our energy demands.

01:33 In 2000, Europe introduced the Water Framework Directive to protect water resources across

01:40 Europe. However, there is still a long way to go.

01:44 The measures that we are implementing needs to be a little bit accelerated at different

01:49 scales, at the local level, at the country level, at the EU level, so that the level

01:55 of preparedness towards these uncertainties will also be improved.

01:59 (whooshing)

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