1.2 billion human beings have no supply of drinking water* and 2.4 billion people live in dwellings without proper drainage or sewerage*. Will it be possible to halve their numbers by 2015?
Such is the ambitious commitment made by nearly two hundred countries at the September 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg and in March 2003 at the World Water Forum in Kyoto. With consumption of fresh water increasing faster than supplies, and pollution continuing to degrade rivers and lakes, ensuring that all on our planet have access to drinking water is high on the international political agenda.
As a result, the United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2003 the International Freshwater Year. The issue was also on the agenda of the June 2003 G8 meeting in Evian, chaired by France
* Source: 3rd World Water Forum, 2003.