Water is humanity's most abundant resource, covering 71 percent of the Earth's surface. Essential to all life, water makes up 50 to 97 percent of the weight of all plants and animals and about 70 percent of the human body. The ocean ecosystem is a major source of food, supplying 24 percent of the world's protein directly from fish and another 5 percent indirectly from fish meal fed to livestock. This is greater than any other single food source. Almost half of the world's fish catch is taken by only 5 industrialized countries: Japan, Russia, China, the United States and Chile. Overfishing and pollution are threatening the capacity of the world's oceans to support sustainable food supplies. According to the World Watch Institute, the world's fish catch has been decreasing by 2 percent per annum since 1989. The United Nations has worked to protect the fisheries by achieving consensus on the International Law of The Seas Treaty and agreement on limits to fish catches, especially migratory stocks that must reach remote spawning areas to reproduce. Often these spawning areas are in endangered coastal wetlands that are extremely fragile.
Amazingly, only 3 percent of the water on earth is fresh water, and only .003 percent of that amount is accessible. The rest is polluted, too far underground or forever locked in ice and soil. It is this precious resource that is needed for agricultural irrigation, drinking, sanitation and industry. Over 1 billion people lack basic access to clean, fresh water. Millions die each year from waterborn diseases such as cholera, dysentery and diarrhea. It is usable fresh water that is often most endangered by industrial pollution and agricultural run-off. The United Nations Environmental Program estimates that by the year 2025 one-third of the worlds population will suffer from chronic water shortages. The shortage will be particularly felt by people in arid areas and by rapidly growing coastal populations and mega-cities. Increasing water scarcity, combined with its deteriorating quality, will have far-reaching global impact on human health, socioeconomic development, freshwater and marine resources and biodiversity. Water knows no international boundaries. 150 of the 214 major rivers are shared by at least two countries and 12 by five or more. Former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has said that international disputes over water rights may become the leading security problem in the future.
The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) has a global mandate for promoting sound management of water resources. UNEP has a special Fresh Water Unit that provides tools and advice for integrated management and use of fresh waters to enhance environmental quality and promote environmentally-sustainable socioeconomic development.
