US EditionEra of ‘global water bankruptcy’ is here, UN report says
The UN report warns that 4 billion people face severe water scarcity annually and 70% of major aquifers show long-term decline due to overuse and climate impacts.
- On Tuesday, United Nations University researchers released a flagship report published Jan. 20, 2026, saying the world has entered an era of global water bankruptcy.
- Decades of human-driven overuse—including groundwater depletion, pollution, and deforestation—have pushed major river basins, lakes, and aquifers past recovery, while agriculture consumes about 70% of freshwater.
- Nearly 4 billion people face severe water scarcity for at least one month each year, and 2.2 billion lack safely managed drinking water.
- The report calls for a shift from crisis response to bankruptcy management, urging social protections and farmer support while warning that cutting supplies to the poor will fail and cause displacement and conflict.
- About 3 billion people and more than half of global food production are in regions where water storage is declining, Madani said, warning of cascading threats to food security and markets.
172 Articles
172 Articles
A new United Nations (UN) report confirms that the world's water systems have passed the crisis phase and entered a state of widespread and lasting collapse.
Global water bankruptcy is already an irreversible reality in many regions of the planet, according to a UN report that warns of freshwater losses that can never be recovered. The report argues that many regions are exceeding their hydrological limits, leading to the collapse of critical water systems and fundamentally transforming the global picture of risks related to freshwater availability. The most affected areas include the Middle East, No…
The spokesman-Review
‘Water bankruptcy’: UN scientists say much of the world is irreversibly depleting water
Dozens of the world’s major rivers are so heavily tapped, they often run dry before reaching the sea. More than half of all large lakes are shrinking, and most of the world’s major underground sources are declining irreversibly as agricultural pumping drains water that took centuries or even thousands of years to accumulate. In a report this week, U.N. scientists warn that the world has ...
UN Report: World Is Now in a State of 'Water Bankruptcy'
The world isn't just running low on water; it's overdrawn, says a new UN-backed report that warns the planet has entered an era of "water bankruptcy." Researchers at the United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health argue that humanity has been tapping rivers, lakes, and underground aquifers faster...
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