- Global Water 2026
- Chapter 3
Systems and sectors at baseline
3.1Where each system stood at evidence close
WAT · Water
People without safely managed drinking water
2.2billionand 2 billion without basic hygiene services at home.
Reported2022JMP1
ENE · Energy
Share of global freshwater withdrawals for energy
≈10%mostly cooling for thermal power; hydropower adds storage and flow dependence.
Reported2014IEA14
FOO · Food
Share of withdrawals used by agriculture
≈70%Irrigated land produces a large share of the world’s food from a minority of cropland.
HLT · Health
Deaths attributable to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene
1.4millionin 2019, most of them from diarrhoeal disease.
Reported2019WHO38
BIO · Biodiversity
Average decline of freshwater wildlife populations
−85%1970–2020, the steepest decline of any realm.
Reported1970–2020WWF17
SYS · Cross-system
Driest year for global rivers in 33 years
2023Glaciers lost more than 600 Gt of water in the same year.
Reported2023WMO5
3.2Domain posture
Each of the twelve coupled domains is read through water, in words, not scored. The coupling column names the dependency that carries water risk into each domain.
| Domain | Posture at baseline | Coupling | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAT | Access unfinished; scarcity seasonal for half of humanity; groundwater and glaciers declining. | the core system | Reported EQL 4 |
| ENE | About 10% of withdrawals; hydropower and thermal cooling exposed to low flows and heat. | WAT → ENE | Reported EQL 3 |
| FOO | About 70% of withdrawals; irrigated yields depend on groundwater and glacier-fed rivers. | WAT → FOO | Reported EQL 4 |
| HLT | 1.4 million WASH-attributable deaths in 2019; floods spread water-borne disease. | WAT → HLT | Reported EQL 4 |
| BIO | Freshwater wildlife down 85%; wetlands down 22% since 1970. | WAT ↔ BIO | Reported EQL 4 |
| CLI | Drier rivers, faster glacier loss and more intense extremes with warming. | CLI → WAT | Reported EQL 5 |
| INF | Ageing networks, storage and flood defences; inland shipping exposed to low water. | WAT ↔ INF | Inferred EQL 3 |
| FIN | Flood losses large and often uninsured; water scarcity could cost some regions up to 6% of GDP by 2050. | WAT → FIN | Reported EQL 3 |
| DAT | Water monitoring data are sparse for groundwater and quality. | DAT → WAT | Expert input EQL 2 |
| AIC | Data centres add cooling-water demand; volumes not consolidated globally. | AIC → WAT | Expert input EQL 2 |
| MIN | Mining and refining use and pollute water in already stressed basins. | MIN → WAT | Inferred EQL 2 |
| TRD | Food trade moves “virtual water”; export restrictions follow droughts. | WAT → TRD | Inferred EQL 3 |
3.3Sector screens
All sixteen sectors are screened for their dependence on water, on the same grammar as every national edition. The evidence column describes coverage of the baseline evidence, not the performance of the sector.
| Code | Sector | Baseline evidence | Exposure to watch | Evidence coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GS-00 | Cross-system | water couples all five core systems46 | multi-basin drought | PARTIAL |
| GS-01 | Water | access gaps; seasonal scarcity for half of humanity12 | drought, flood, depletion | GOOD |
| GS-02 | Energy | about 10% of withdrawals14 | low flows and hot cooling water | PARTIAL |
| GS-03 | Food | about 70% of withdrawals2 | aquifer decline; drought | GOOD |
| GS-04 | Health | 1.4 million WASH deaths, 201938 | water-borne disease after floods | GOOD |
| GS-05 | Finance | up to 6% of GDP at stake in some regions35 | uninsured flood losses | PARTIAL |
| GS-06 | Development | 739 million children in high scarcity39 | access gaps in fragile settings | PARTIAL |
| GS-07 | Climate | driest year for rivers in 33 years5 | glacier loss; intensifying extremes | GOOD |
| GS-08 | Disaster | floods among the costliest perils7 | concurrent floods and droughts | GOOD |
| GS-09 | Infrastructure | ageing water networks and dams | failure and low-water navigation | THIN |
| GS-10 | Cities | urban demand rising fastest | shortage and pluvial flooding | PARTIAL |
| GS-11 | Biodiversity | freshwater wildlife −85%17 | flow alteration; pollution | GOOD |
| GS-12 | Earth observation | satellite gravimetry tracks storage19 | continuity of missions | PARTIAL |
| GS-13 | Cyber and digital | control systems for utilities | attacks on water systems | THIN |
| GS-14 | Policy | 153 countries share basins9 | arrangements incomplete | PARTIAL |
| GS-15 | Science | deep hydrological science | groundwater and quality data | PARTIAL |
Notes
Numbers are the edition’s reference numbers, so a note reads the same in every chapter. The full list, with every source and its licence, is in Annex C. Annex C, references
- 1WHO and UNICEF (eds.), Progress on Household Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene 2000–2022: Special Focus on Gender. Joint Monitoring Programme, New York and Geneva, 2023.back
- 14International Energy Agency (ed.), Water–Energy Nexus. World Energy Outlook 2016 Special Report. IEA, Paris, 2016.back
- 2UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme (ed.), The United Nations World Water Development Report 2024: Water for Prosperity and Peace. UNESCO, Paris, 2024.back
- 15FAO (ed.), The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture 2021: Systems at Breaking Point. FAO, Rome, 2021.back
- 38WHO (ed.), Burden of Disease Attributable to Unsafe Drinking-water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2019 Update. WHO, Geneva, 2023.back
- 17WWF (ed.), Living Planet Report 2024: A System in Peril. WWF, Gland, 2024.back
- 5WMO (ed.), State of Global Water Resources 2023. World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, 2024.back
- 46P. D. McElwee, P. A. Harrison, T. L. van Huysen et al. (eds.), Thematic Assessment Report on the Interlinkages among Biodiversity, Water, Food and Health. IPBES secretariat, Bonn, 2024. doi:10.5281/zenodo.13850054. doi:10.5281/zenodo.13850054back
- 35World Bank (ed.), High and Dry: Climate Change, Water, and the Economy. World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016.back
- 39UNICEF (ed.), The Climate-Changed Child: A Children’s Climate Risk Index Supplement. UNICEF, New York, 2023.back
- 7Munich Re (ed.), Natural disasters in 2025: NatCatSERVICE full-year figures. Munich Re, Munich, January 2026.back
- 19M. Rodell, J. S. Famiglietti, D. N. Wiese et al., “Emerging trends in global freshwater availability,” Nature, vol. 557, pp. 651–659, 2018.back
- 9UNECE and UNESCO (eds.), Progress on Transboundary Water Cooperation: Global Status of SDG Indicator 6.5.2 and Acceleration Needs, 2024. United Nations, Geneva and Paris, 2024.back