Agency overview | |
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Jurisdiction | Pakistan |
Headquarters | Islamabad, Pakistan |
Website | pcrwr |
The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) is a national organization in Pakistan that conducts research and provides recommendations on water resources management and quality. The council plays a crucial role in addressing the country's water scarcity issues, ensuring the safety of bottled water, and collaborating with international partners to combat water-related challenges.
In 2023, the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources Act underwent a revision. [1] This revision, referred to as the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (Amendment) Act, 2023, was approved by the President on April 11, 2023. [2] [3] The amendment replaced Section 16 of the Act, which details the council's power to hire employees, engage experts, advisers, and consultants, and establish their terms and conditions. [1]
The PCRWR consistently checks the quality of bottled water within the country. A recent report from the council revealed that 25 brands of bottled water were deemed unfit for human consumption due to either microbiological or chemical contamination. These unsafe brands were identified to contain excessive levels of sodium, elevated levels of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), high levels of potassium, or were found to be tainted with bacteria. [4] [5] [6]
The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) has also entered into a partnership with China to assist Pakistan in addressing water-related issues. The objective of this Pak-China collaboration is to employ technical methods to manage water resources, which could aid Pakistan in dealing with the impacts of climate change and associated disasters. [7] [8] [9]
Pakistan is grappling with a serious water crisis, with numerous regions of the country suffering from intense water shortages. [10] By 2025, the country is predicted to shift from being 'water-stressed' to 'water-starved'. [11] Climate change further intensifies the water scarcity, leading to unpredictable weather patterns and severe weather occurrences like floods and droughts. [10]
Addressing the water crisis necessitates collaborative efforts at various levels. There is an immediate need for the country to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to the evolving climate, and build resilience against the already occurring impacts. [12] This involves the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices, such as the cultivation of drought-resistant crops, enhanced water management techniques, and improved soil conservation practices. [13] The pressing need to tackle the water crisis has been underscored, with practical suggestions for a sustainable future being put forward. [10]
Overconsumption describes a situation where a consumer overuses their available goods and services to where they can't, or don't want to, replenish or reuse them. In microeconomics, this may be described as the point where the marginal cost of a consumer is greater than their marginal utility. The term overconsumption is quite controversial in use and does not necessarily have a single unifying definition. When used to refer to natural resources to the point where the environment is negatively affected, is it synonymous with the term overexploitation. However, when used in the broader economic sense, overconsumption can refer to all types of goods and services, including manmade ones, e.g. "the overconsumption of alcohol can lead to alcohol poisoning". Overconsumption is driven by several factors of the current global economy, including forces like consumerism, planned obsolescence, economic materialism, and other unsustainable business models and can be contrasted with sustainable consumption.
Bottled water is drinking water packaged in plastic or glass water bottles. Bottled water may be carbonated or not. Sizes range from small single serving bottles to large carboys for water coolers.
A green economy is an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological economics, but has a more politically applied focus. The 2011 UNEP Green Economy Report argues "that to be green, an economy must not only be efficient, but also fair. Fairness implies recognizing global and country level equity dimensions, particularly in assuring a Just Transition to an economy that is low-carbon, resource efficient, and socially inclusive."
The water resources of China are affected by both severe water shortages and severe growing population and rapid economic development as well as lax environmental oversight have increased in a large scale the water demand and pollution. China has responded by measures such as rapidly building out the water infrastructure and increasing regulation as well as exploring a number of further technological solutions.
Environmental issues in Pakistan include air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, climate change, pesticide misuse, soil erosion, natural disasters, desertification and flooding. According to the 2020 edition of the environmental performance index (EPI) ranking released by Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, Pakistan ranks 142 with an EPI score of 33.1, an increase of 6.1 over a 10-year period. It ranked 180 in terms of air quality. The climatic changes and global warming are the most alarming issues risking millions of lives across the country. The major reasons of these environmental issues are carbon emissions, population explosion, and deforestation.
Water politics, sometimes called hydropolitics, is politics affected by the availability of water and water resources, a necessity for all life forms and human development.
Water scarcity is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity namely physical and economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is where there is not enough water to meet all demands, including that needed for ecosystems to function. Arid areas for example Central Asia, West Asia, and North Africa often experience physical water scarcity. Economic water scarcity on the other hand, is the result of lack of investment in infrastructure or technology to draw water from rivers, aquifers, or other water sources. It also results from weak human capacity to meet water demand. Much of Sub-Saharan Africa experiences economic water scarcity.
Environmental politics designate both the politics about the environment and an academic field of study focused on three core components:
Climate change and poverty are deeply intertwined because climate change disproportionally affects poor people in low-income communities and developing countries around the world. The impoverished have a higher chance of experiencing the ill-effects of climate change due to the increased exposure and vulnerability. Vulnerability represents the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change including climate variability and extremes.
Water scarcity in Africa is predicted to reach dangerously high levels by 2025 when it is estimated that about two-thirds of the world's population may suffer from fresh water shortage. The main causes of water scarcity in Africa are physical and economic scarcity, rapid population growth, and climate change. Water scarcity is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. Although Sub-Saharan Africa has a plentiful supply of rainwater, it is seasonal and unevenly distributed, leading to frequent floods and droughts. Additionally, prevalent economic development and poverty issues, compounded with rapid population growth and rural-urban migration have rendered Sub-Saharan Africa as the world's poorest and least developed region.
Water resource policy, sometimes called water resource management or water management, encompasses the policy-making processes and legislation that affect the collection, preparation, use, disposal, and protection of water resources. Water is a necessity for all forms of life as well as industries on which humans are reliant, like technology development and agriculture. This global need for clean water access necessitates water resource policy to determine the means of supplying and protecting water resources. Water resource policy varies by region and is dependent on water availability or scarcity, the condition of aquatic systems, and regional needs for water. Since water basins do not align with national borders, water resource policy is also determined by international agreements, also known as hydropolitics. Water quality protection also falls under the umbrella of water resource policy; laws protecting the chemistry, biology, and ecology of aquatic systems by reducing and eliminating pollution, regulating its usage, and improving the quality are considered water resource policy. When developing water resource policies, many different stakeholders, environmental variables, and considerations have to be taken to ensure the health of people and ecosystems are maintained or improved. Finally, ocean zoning, coastal, and environmental resource management are also encompassed by water resource management, like in the instance of offshore wind land leasing.
Water issues in developing countries include scarcity of drinking water, poor infrastructure for water and sanitation access, water pollution, and low levels of water security. Over one billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to clean water. The main barriers to addressing water problems in developing nations include poverty, costs of infrastructure, and poor governance. The effects of climate change on the water cycle can make these problems worse.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is an independent think tank founded in 1990 working to shape and inform international policy on sustainable development governance. The institute has three offices in Canada - Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Toronto, and one office in Geneva, Switzerland. It has over 150 staff and associates working in over 30 countries.
Water scarcity in Iran is caused by high climatic variability, uneven distribution of water, over exploitation of available water resources,and prioritization of economic development. Water scarcity in Iran is further exacerbated by climate change.
Environmental issues in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are caused by the exploitation of natural resources, rapid population growth, and high energy demand. The continuing temperature rise caused by global warming contributes to UAE's water scarcity, drought, rising sea level, and aridity. The countryside of the UAE, characterized with its great arid land, infrequent precipitation, and high temperatures are already facing long-term aridity. This precondition is very vulnerable to the effects of climate change and contributes to worsening water scarcity, quality, and water contamination.
Climate change education (CCE) is education that aims to address and develop effective responses to climate change. It helps learners understand the causes and consequences of climate change, prepares them to live with the impacts of climate change and empowers learners to take appropriate actions to adopt more sustainable lifestyles. Climate change and climate change education are global challenges that can be anchored in the curriculum in order to provide local learning and widen up mindset shits on how climate change can be mitigated. In such as case CCE is more than climate change literacy but understanding ways of dealing with climate
In Iraq, climate change has led to environmental impacts such as increasing temperatures, decreasing precipitation, land degradation, and water scarcity and poses numerous risks to human health, livelihoods, political stability, and the sustainable development of the nation. The combination of ecological factors, conflict, weak governance, and an impeded capacity to mitigate climate change, has made Iraq uniquely at risk to the negative effects of climate change, with the UN ranking them the 5th most vulnerable country to climate change. Rising temperatures, intensified droughts, declining precipitation, desertification, salinization, and the increasing prevalence of dust storms are challenges Iraq faces due in to the negative impacts of climate change. National and regional political instability and conflict have made it difficult to mitigate the effects of climate change, address transnational water management, and develop sustainably. Climate change has negatively impacted Iraq's population through loss of economic opportunity, food insecurity, water scarcity, and displacement.
Nestlé Pakistan is a Pakistani food company which is a subsidiary of Swiss multinational company Nestlé. It is active in dairy, confectionery, coffee, beverages, infant nutrition and bottled drinking water areas. It is based in Lahore, Pakistan.
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include non-salty mineral-rich waters such as chalybeate springs. Fresh water may encompass frozen and meltwater in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, snowfields and icebergs, natural precipitations such as rainfall, snowfall, hail/sleet and graupel, and surface runoffs that form inland bodies of water such as wetlands, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, as well as groundwater contained in aquifers, subterranean rivers and lakes. Fresh water is the water resource that is of the most and immediate use to humans.
Climate change and cities are deeply connected. Cities are one of the greatest contributors and likely best opportunities for addressing climate change. Cities are also one of the most vulnerable parts of the human society to the effects of climate change, and likely one of the most important solutions for reducing the environmental impact of humans. More than half of the world's population is in cities, consuming a large portion of food and goods produced outside of cities. The increase of urban population growth is one of the main factors in air-quality problems. In the year 2016, 31 mega-cities reported having at least 10 million in their population, 8 of which surpassed 20 million people. However, secondary cities - small to medium size cities are rapidly increasing in number and are some of the fastest growing urbanizing areas in the world further contributing to climate change impacts. The UN projects that 68% of the world population will live in urban areas by 2050. Hence, cities have a significant influence on construction and transportation—two of the key contributors to global warming emissions. Moreover, because of processes that create climate conflict and climate refugees, city areas are expected to grow during the next several decades, stressing infrastructure and concentrating more impoverished peoples in cities.