
The Roots of the Global Water Crisis
The above-featured image is for illustration and is of World Atlas

SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty Images
The above-featured image is for illustration and is of World Atlas
SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty Images
‘Exploring MENA’s role in driving resilience through Sustainability’ was in the second-annual flagship MENA Forum from the sidelines of UNGA which was debated as described here below.
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Convening on the sidelines of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly, the second edition of MENA Forum goes beyond the headlines to provide unparalleled insights through the lens of MENA’s leading figures and thinkers
The distinguished panelists and moderators include senior ministers from Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Qatar as well as diplomats, leading experts and private sector decision-makers
MENA Forum 2023 will be livestreamed and will be available to watch here from 09:40AM EST on 22nd September
To coincide with the Forum, SRMG Think Research & Advisory publishes ‘MENA Forum Report: the case for cooperation beyond de-escalation’, providing a complementary examination of MENA’s potential for fostering regional collaboration across geopolitics, economics, and energy
New York – SRMG Think Research and Advisory (SRMG Think), an independent research and strategic advisory firm focused on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), is pleased to announce the second edition of its flagship annual MENA Forum, providing a global platform to showcase the region’s growing role in contributing innovative solutions to address important issues impacting the world today. Hosted in partnership with non-partisan think tank, the Middle East Institute (MEI), MENA Forum 2023 will convene on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Friday, September 22nd.
SRMG Think’s mission is to bridge the knowledge gap by offering data-driven, fact-based analysis and insights on the MENA region. Its dedicated team of leading experts and analysts serves as a trusted source for governments, businesses and NGOs seeking to better understand and navigate the region. The MENA Forum represents how SRMG Think utilizes its experienced team and global network to foster dialogue, promote understanding and offer fresh perspectives on a region undergoing significant transformation.
The exclusive one-day policy forum will explore topics at the heart of the global conversation as world leaders and policy-makers gather to discuss global priorities during UNGA’s high-level week. The Forum’s theme “MENA: Reinforcing Global Resilience Through Sustainability” will facilitate constructive dialogue examining the ways in which MENA can work with the international community to develop sustainable, long-term solutions to critical regional challenges. It will also provide a unique lens on how the region is evolving into a dynamic hub driving new trends and contributing to the global agenda.
As the MENA region assumes a greater leadership role on the world stage, the Forum will deliver unparalleled insights and address the region’s pivotal role in the energy transition, global peace and stability efforts, and economic sustainability. The Forum will similarly explore how enhanced cooperation among key regional players is fostering sustainable development and stability.
The Forum will provide a collaborative environment for a diverse range of regional policy-makers, diplomats, leading experts and private sector decision-makers to deliver distinct perspectives through eight high-level keynotes, talks and panels. This year’s participants include Her Excellency Rania Al Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, and Governor for the World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the African Development Bank, and other international institutions, Arab Republic of Egypt; His Excellency Dr. Ayman Al Safadi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, United Arab Emirates; Ahmet Yıldız, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Türkiye; His Excellency Dr. Majed Al Ansari, Advisor to the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Spokesperson, State of Qatar; Timothy Lenderking, U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen, United States Department of State; Dr. Amer Bisat, Managing Director and Global Head of Emerging Markets, BlackRock; and Dr. Sara Vakhshouri, Founder and President, SVB Energy International, among others.
Neil Quilliam, Director of Energy, SRMG Think, said: “As MENA continues to achieve its development aspirations and evolves into an engine for global growth, it has become increasingly important for governments, businesses and decision-makers to understand the region. However, there is currently a lack of actionable insights that these entities and individuals can rely on. In light of this, a MENA-focused UNGA side event, featuring invaluable perspectives from the region, is more crucial than ever. The MENA Forum fosters open and frank discussions on the economic, political, and environmental challenges and opportunities present in MENA through the lens of regional leaders and the brightest thinkers. SRMG Think’s mission is to provide independent research and advisory and this event, co-hosted with MEI, demonstrates how our deep regional and global network provides a roadmap to navigate a rapidly evolving region.”
Paul Salem, President and CEO, Middle East Institute, said: “MEI is proud to collaborate with SRMG Think on this year’s MENA Forum. As the world confronts challenges around energy transition, climate change, economic diversification, trade, and human security, the MENA region remains a focal point where all of these complex dynamics converge. It is critical to bring leaders and policy practitioners from the region to engage with the international community in order to build on common interests and opportunities for a better global future.”
Think Research – ‘MENA Forum Report: the case for cooperation beyond de-escalation’
This research report complements MENA Forum 2023’s dialogue concerning the evolving dynamics within the MENA region. The report explores MENA’s potential for promoting regional cooperation and contends that the de-escalation of tensions in the region has opened a window of opportunity for states to collaborate on pressing, shared issues in three key areas: geopolitics and security, economics, and energy. However, the report underscores that while factors such as the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran have helped create an opening for regional states to cooperate, this time-limited opportunity must be seized now to boost long-term stability and support energy transition.
The report finds that MENA is at a critical juncture and must capitalize on the current momentum and lay the foundations for the long-term cooperation in geopolitics, economics, and energy that is essential for addressing common challenges and mutual gain in the region.
About SRMG Think Research and Advisory:
SRMG Think Research and Advisory is an independent research and strategic advisory firm focused on the MENA region, helping entities navigate a complex global landscape and support decision-makers with unique insights and data. The firm’s leading advisory industry talent, comprising experts and analysts from top institutions, such as the United Nations, the World Bank and Chatham House, has a deep understanding of the region, which Think leverages for its strong suite of services providing unique insights, analysis, and evidence-based views in the areas of energy, geopolitics, macroeconomics, and media. Think’s deep regional knowledge is further bolstered by being a firm born out of the Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), the largest integrated media group from the MENA region, with a 50+-year legacy of independent coverage on the MENA region.
For more information, please visit: http://www.thinkresearchandadvisory.com and http://www.srmgthink.com.
About the Middle East Institute:
Founded in 1946, the Middle East Institute is the oldest Washington-based institution dedicated solely to the study of the Middle East. MEI has earned a reputation as an unbiased source of information and analysis on this critical region of the world, a reputation it has meticulously safeguarded since its creation. Today, MEI remains a respected, non-partisan voice in the field of Middle East studies. http://www.mei.edu.
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Arab youth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states lead the charge at 65 percent, followed by North Africa at 58 percent, and the Levantine nations at 51 percent.
A majority of Arab youth are prepared to endorse calls for boycotting brands detrimental to the environment, according to the 15th annual ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey.
This percentage stands at 58 percent, with notable variations across regions. Youth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states lead the charge at 65 percent, followed by North Africa at 58 percent, and the Levantine nations at 51 percent.
The survey, released on September 21 to coincide with Zero Emissions Day, indicates mounting apprehension among Arab youth about climate change’s impact on their daily lives.
An astonishing 66 percent of respondents, the highest in five years, expressed being ‘very concerned’ about this global challenge.
With climate crisis asserting its immediate presence in the region, a substantial 71 percent of all respondents affirmed that global warming is already affecting their lives. This sentiment is most pronounced in North Africa (76 percent) and the GCC states (74 percent), and somewhat lower but still significant in the Levantine countries (63 percent).
Despite this, 87 percent of Arab youth believe their governments are taking positive action against climate crisis.
However, 56 percent feel that governments should set transparent and accountable targets for achieving net zero emissions.
Presently, only a handful of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have set such targets, including the GCC states and Iraq.
Regarding the role of Arab countries in tackling global warming compared to other nations, less than half (42 percent) of the surveyed youth believe that Arab nations should do more.
When it comes to addressing global warming, opinions are divided, with 49 percent advocating for lifestyle changes and 47 percent pinning their hopes on technological advancements.
Sunil John, President of MENA at BCW and Founder of ASDA’A BCW, highlighted the region’s significance in the global climate change dialogue due to its energy resources.
“The Middle East is home to some of the world’s largest energy producers and proven oil and gas reserves. This has positioned the Arab world at the heart of the global climate change dialogue. With Egypt hosting the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference in 2022 and the UAE preparing to welcome the world for COP28 this year, the region is once again in the global spotlight,” he said.
He also stressed the vulnerability of the MENA region to climate change, citing increased temperatures, frequent heatwaves, and water scarcity as pressing concerns.
“Amidst all this, it is encouraging that the region’s largest demographic, its over 200 million youth, understand the implications of climate change. Most are also willing to support the boycott of brands damaging nature. It is important that businesses take heed of their sentiment and make genuine efforts to minimise their environmental impact by aligning their values with the aspirations of the region’s youth,” he added.
This survey of over 200 million Arab youth underscores the urgent need for climate action, both on a governmental and corporate level.
With the Middle East at the center of climate discussions, the region’s youth are poised to play a pivotal role in driving change and holding businesses accountable for their environmental impact.
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Climate Change made Libya’s deadly rainfall more than fifty times not more likely but surely, more crucial for our understanding of the critical situation of the MENA region.
The above-featured is for illustration and credit to Libyan Express.
A view shows destroyed buildings, in the aftermath of the floods in Derna, Libya September 18, 2023. REUTERS/Ahmed Elumami Acquire Licensing Rights
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BERLIN, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Climate Change made the heavy rainfall that led to deadly floods in Libya up to 50 times more likely, scientists said on Tuesday.
The powerful Sept. 10 storm caused two dams to break, inundating Libya’s eastern city of Derna and killing thousands of people. Residential blocks built along a typically dry riverbank toppled, as the swollen river undermined foundations.
Building in flood plains, poor dam conditions, long-lasting armed conflict and other local factors played a role in the disaster.
But climate change caused up to 50% more rain during that period, according to scientists with World Weather Attribution, an international research collaboration that works to determine how much climate change plays a role in specific weather events.
The scientists warned that as climate change pushes weather to new extremes, it would remain risky to build homes on flood plains or to use substandard materials.
“The interaction of these factors, and the very heavy rain that was worsened by climate change, created the extreme destruction [in Libya]”, the scientists wrote in a statement.
They used climate and computer simulations to compare weather events today with what they might have been if the climate had not already warmed by 1.2 degrees Celsius above the average preindustrial temperature.
Rainfall can increase or become more erratic with climate change, as a warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapour – allowing more moisture to build up before clouds finally break.
The “extremely unusual” storm event delivered 50% more rain than it would have if there was no global warming, according to the scientists’ research. Such an event can be expected once every 300-600 years in the current climate, they said.
Meanwhile, climate change also caused up to a 40% increase in the amount of rain that fell in early September across the Mediterranean, causing floods that killed dozens in Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey.
“The Mediterranean is a hotspot of climate change-fueled hazards,” said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, citing heatwaves and wildfires in the region over summer.
In the MENA region, where shading, because of the prevailing climate, has been for millennia and still is one of the most important architectural elements for all built structures of the past, this simple and smart solution could solve cities’ extreme heat problem exposure.
The above-featured image is for illustration and is credit to TENSILE FABRIC SHADE
Three years ago, the community impact team at the global design, architecture and planning firm Gensler set out to find answers to a question that rises to the very top of every architect’s mind when a heat wave sweeps over a city: What is the fastest, cheapest way to cool down our cities? Or as Amanda Stone, Gensler’s research manager and community impact specialist, put it: “How can we design a design process to create solutions for the built environment that would combat extreme heat?”
The answer Gensler came up with—an adaptable shading structure that can be configured to fit different kinds of public spaces—is by no means a silver bullet that will help cool cities everywhere in the world. But it is worth dwelling on the process that informed it, which could (and should) become a blueprint for any designer or urban planner working with local communities.
After receiving three internal research grants to more deeply explore the question, the Gensler team got to work, but it found that answering Stone’s original prompt—which puts an emphasis on the process, not the output—was too broad and complex to come from only one team. And so, it was circulated across Gensler’s broader network of designers and researchers, who then tapped into their own networks in search of community partners who may want to participate.
One of those communities was in the Costa Rican city of Curridabat, which has been suffering the consequences of climate change for years. Paula Badilla, sustainability specialist at Gensler’s Costa Rica office and regional resilience leader for Latin America, explains that Curridabat already had a strong climate action plan and had been measuring things like its heat vulnerability index, urban heat island effects and flood risk across the municipality. But the team didn’t simply rely on those datapoints to inform the design process—they actually asked residents where they felt the hottest.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the heat maps and residents’ responses didn’t always match, so in Curridabat, the community chose the final three locations based on their own experiences of the city: right outside a human development center, close to a sports field, and in a skatepark with one lone tree.
In those three locations, the team developed a brief for a shading structure, which they turned into an internal competition to design what it would look like. More than 80 people participated across Gensler’s Latin American offices. The winning design ticked all the boxes: it was modular and could therefore be accommodated to fit all tree locations; it was easy enough for the community to build it (and feel a sense of ownership in the process); and it could be made with pretty much any locally found materials—in this case bamboo, rope and canvas. As a bonus, it could also provide more than just shade: residents could use the canvas as a projection screen, or replace it altogether with art, or a trellis for ivy.
To measure the impact the structure will have on the community and how they experience heat, the team is planning to install humidity and temperature trackers on all three structures, then will monitor them over the next three months. They’re also hoping to install CCTV-like cameras to understand who is using the structures (children? teens? parents?) and what they’re using them for. They could, of course, survey residents in a few months, but as project manager Ana Thomas notes: “When you ask people, they tell you things you want to hear, but we need the right information about how they really feel.”
Either way, the findings will not only inform future iterations, but also serve as validation for the community. “The one good thing that I have seen in terms of what really works is knowledge sharing,” says Stone. “It’s gathering the data, gathering the best practices, and sharing those with community members, not keeping it insular.”
LONDON – In March 1977, representatives from 116 countries gathered in Mar del Plata, Argentina, for the inaugural United Nations Water Conference. At the time, the event received very little attention. Global politics was dominated by a handful of powerful countries, most of them in temperate regions where water scarcity, severe pollution, and flooding were not considered major issues.
The atmosphere at this year’s UN Water Conference, which took place in New York in March, was markedly different. Instead of apathy, there was a palpable sense that the water crisis is a global problem. Today, every country in the world faces water-related challenges, underscoring our collective vulnerability as the planet’s most vital natural resource is increasingly threatened. The robust engagement of the scientific community and civil society was also instrumental in shedding light on the far-reaching consequences of this crisis.
Unsurprisingly, the countries that were most at risk in 1977 are even more vulnerable today. The reckless exploitation of the planet has accelerated humanity’s breach of planetary boundaries. The long-anticipated sea-level rise is now submerging vast areas, while deserts are expanding at an alarming rate as water sources diminish and aquifers become depleted. Meanwhile, pollutants from human waste, along with the byproducts of industrial activities, contaminate our rivers, lakes, and oceans. At a time of growing scarcity, our seemingly insatiable thirst for consumption has aggravated these trends.
The fact that some remain unaffected by this crisis attests to their privilege. While many experience environmental degradation on a spiritual level, some of the world’s poorest populations face immediate and tangible consequences as they try to adapt to rapidly changing conditions.
Much like the response to the climate crisis, the response to the water crisis suffers from a lack of global coordination and opposition from entrenched interests seeking to prevent crucial reforms. As the Indian environmental activist Vandana Shivaputs it, “When the rich, powerful, and dominant economic forces of society” exceed their fair share of Earth’s resources, “indigenous communities and minority groups are deprived of their share of water for life and livelihoods.” This, she writes, forces entire communities “to carry the heavy burden of water poverty.”
A recent petition proposed by prominent water-rights activist Rajendra Singh offers a potential path forward. Singh, chairman of the People’s World Commission on Drought and Flood, outlines ten critical transformations required to restore water harmony. By transcending anthropocentrism, his proposed pledge aims to rejuvenate the global water cycle and harness its immense power to promote the well-being of all living things.
At the heart of Singh’s pledge lies the bedrock principle of climate-oriented thinking: a complete system overhaul. This perspective views humanity as part of a much larger whole that encompasses the diverse species with which we share our planet. Instead of commodifying natural resources for profit and relentless consumption, this ethos encourages people to be mindful of the potential consequences of their actions and commit to repairing any damage they cause.
This raises three fundamental questions. First, what actions are required to address the global water crisis? Second, which key stakeholders must step up? Third, how can we ensure that these stakeholders implement vital systemic changes?
For too long, policymakers have emphasized minor changes in household consumption habits, thereby unfairly shifting the burden to families and communities whose contributions to the water crisis have been negligible. The root causes of water scarcity are large-scale industrial production, lack of attention to quality, and the failure to address rampant pollution. At the macro level, extractive industries and an economic system centered on profit maximization drive the increase in global temperatures, further disrupting water cycles.
While reducing household consumption is important, it pales in comparison to the potential impact of forcing corporations to adopt sustainable practices. But the increasingly symbiotic relationship between politics and big-business interests complicates this task. Instead of pursuing systemic changes, the world’s most powerful governments have opted for incremental reforms to create the appearance of commitment.
The recent UN Water Conference underscored the urgency of today’s crisis. If governments are unwilling or unable to pursue the necessary structural reforms, they must be replaced by political leaders with the vision and determination to overhaul the systems that jeopardize the natural resource sustaining all life on Earth.
Growing up in India, I observed the country’s relentless drive to catch up with wealthier economies. By investing in higher education, building roads and hospitals, and boosting economic growth through consumption and increased production, the thinking went, India could become richer and eliminate poverty. The mainstream education system frequently championed the commodification of nature, anthropocentric dominance, and extractivism. It revered the architects of our flawed economic system, treating their words as sacrosanct.
Indigenous communities have long warned that such “progress” was misguided, but they were dismissed as hidebound and out of touch with reality. As climate change disrupts water and food systems around the world, many now recognize the prescience of these warnings. Given that we might be the last generation capable of mitigating the worst effects of the water crisis, it is our responsibility to hold accountable those who are exploiting the planet for personal gain.