WWF identifies 100 cities, including 30 in India, facing ‘severe water risk’ by 2050

Context

• A hundred cities worldwide, including 30 in India, face the risk of ‘severe water scarcity’ by 2050, according to a recent report by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

What are the key findings of the report?

• The cities would face a ‘grave water risk’ by 2050.
• It will be due to a dramatic increase in their population percentage.
• The other major cities include global hubs such as Beijing, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Mecca and Rio de Janeiro.
• Thirty Indian cities are also included in the list.
• More than half of the identified cities are from China and India.                                         

What can be done to reverse the situation?

• Cities needed to invest more in nature-based solutions and enhance the health of river basins, watersheds and wetlands to build resilience to water risks.
• A public funding pool needed to be createdin collaboration with the private sector to invest, reduce risk and generate returns and fuel sustainable economic growth.
• Cities also needed to support greater global efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions to avoid reaching these scenarios.