Water is essential for life at all levels, from individual cells to entire ecosystems, and has played a fundamental role in the development and evolution of civilizations that have always sought to settle near freshwater sources to exploit their properties for agriculture, hygiene, transportation and food production. Since then, people's daily lives have always revolved around access to water, making it a vital resource for human progress.
The World Water Day, or World Water Day, was proclaimed by the UN following the Rio Conference in 1992 with the aim of promoting the sustainable management of water resources.
The UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development has set Objective 6 "Clean water and sanitation" which includes, in addition to equitable and universal access to drinking water and sanitation services, the protection and rehabilitation of water-related ecosystems.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNESCO), in 2022:
The theme chosen for World Water Day 2024 by the United Nations is “Water for Peace” which reflects on the fundamental role of water in the stability and prosperity of the world.
Water can be an instrument of peace but it can also trigger conflicts when it is scarce or when access is denied. Where water is scarce or polluted, or people have unequal or non-existent access, tensions between communities and countries can increase.
More than 3 billion people worldwide depend on water that crosses national borders. However, out of 153 countries that share rivers, lakes and aquifers with their neighbors, only 24 countries report having cooperative agreements for all of their shared waters.
With the increasing impacts of climate change and the growth of the global population, it is increasingly necessary to act starting from the awareness that water is not just a resource to be used and conquered, but is a human right, intrinsic to every aspect of life.
Problems related to water, drought on the one hand and floods and inundations on the other, are destined to worsen throughout the world with the climate crisis. Over 2 billion people find themselves in situations of water insecurity or suffering and there are also millions of animal and plant species at risk.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the ongoing temperature increase will be accompanied by major changes in the water cycle throughout the planet, with humid areas becoming much wetter and arid areas being subject to more intense droughts and for longer periods.
In the last thirty climatological years 1991–2020, with a value that amounts to more than 440 mm, the availability of water has decreased by 20% compared to the historical reference value of 550 mm (ISPRA 2022).
This reduction, due to the impacts of climate change, can be attributed not only to the decrease in precipitation, but also to the increase in evaporation from bodies of water and transpiration from vegetation, due to the increase in temperatures.
The framework outlined by ISPRA (Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research) estimates that the reduction in annual water availability will range from a minimum of 10% (short-term projection) if an aggressive mitigation approach is adopted in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to a maximum of 40% (reaching up to 90% for some areas of Southern Italy) in the projection to 2100 if greenhouse gas emission levels maintain current levels.
In 2023, Istat photographs Italy's water situation, highlighting many critical issues.
For more than twenty years now, Italy has been at the top in Europe for the overall quantity of fresh water consumed for drinking purposes. In per capita terms, Italy is second in the EU with a consumption of 155 cubic meters per year. According to the World Resources Institute in 2040 Italy will be under serious water stress.
To direct consumption (for example for washing, cooking, cleaning), there is added indirect consumption linked to the so-called hidden water, i.e. used in the production of goods and services. Each production phase to create a finished product can consume water and the sum of all these consumptions represents the daily water footprint.
90% of the water footprint is determined by food and it is estimated that each person "eats" on average 5,000 liters of water per day. For example, meat is the most water-intensive food.
Agriculture is the thirstiest economic sector, accounting for around 90% of global water consumption. Another sector with high intensity of water consumption is the textile industry, with approximately 93 billion cubic meters of water per year.
A critical aspect of the Italian case is the presence of an antiquated and inadequate infrastructure system, characterized by water losses in the distribution network which in 2020 were equal to 42.2% of the volume of water injected. The water crisis is not only due to a shortage of raw materials, but rather to the lack of adequate systems and networks covering the entire water cycle.
It is imperative to address the changes underway by developing a new model of well-being aimed at eliminating water waste, reducing and rationalizing its use, and guaranteeing its fair distribution.
For example, with regard to the Italian case, the modernization of the water network is the main project that would make it possible to recover at least part of the 3.4 billion cubic meters that are wasted every year. Furthermore, through the purification and reuse of waste water, approximately 8.5 billion cubic meters of water could be recovered (approximately 30% of the water consumed annually) to be used for agriculture and field irrigation.
The role of companies is to guarantee sustainable management of water resources in the company's production processes and factories, through a rigorous policy on water consumption and the reuse of resources in order to reduce the environmental and social impact of production activities and the use of dangerous materials and chemical products.
In addition to raising awareness of their ownstakeholders, organizations can then join and implement projects that contribute to guaranteeing universal and equitable access to water and ensuring adequate sanitary conditions.
To achieve SDG 6 Malerba & Partners has decided to contribute to the Wami project, the Italian company that aims to change the world "one bottle at a time".
WAMI aims to bring drinking water to as many people as possible, leaving a positive environmental impact. Each bottle of WAMI donates 100 liters of drinking water and contributes to the creation of water projects involving communities without access to this resource: from the construction of the aqueduct to the creation of the water network that connects each family in the community with a single tap.
The “Cura Italia” Legislative Decree provides for a series of measures to support liquidity through the banking system: among these the so-called. Attuazione del Fondo solidarietà mutui “prima casa”, sancita…
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