UN Report Calls for Wastewater Focus in Post-2015 Agenda, as 80% of Worlds Wastewater Discharged Untreated

Around 70 per cent of industrial discharge in developing countries goes untreated

Nairobi, 2 February 2015 - Only 20 per cent of global wastewater is currently being treated, leaving low-income countries hardest hit by contaminated water supplies and disease, according to a UN report which encourages governments to see treated wastewater as a valuable resource, and a priority for the post-2015 development agenda.

With urban populations estimated to double in the next four decades, and low-income countries possessing only 8 per cent of the required capacity to treat wastewater effectively, Wastewater Management, A UN-Water Analytical Brief, produced by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN-Habitat, on behalf of UN-Water, describes the damage being done to ecosystems and biodiversity as 'dire' and warns of the threat wastewater will increasingly pose to human health, economic activity, and water security if left unaddressed.

The report argues that wastewater management has been neglected in the rush to commercialize drinking water production, a situation exacerbated by a fragmented water management system in many countries, and the use of different technologies that are often designed separately and retrofitted to existing systems.

The Rapid Assessment Report on Wastewater Management (Sick Water), co-authored by UN-Habitat and UNEP, notes that 21 of the world's 33 megacities are on the coast, placing fragile ecosystems at risk. And without urgent action to better manage wastewater, the situation is likely to get worse. UN-Habitat contends that effective urban planning, legislation and financing lie at the core of addressing the wastewater challenge.

As countries prepare to finalize the next development agenda, which includes a proposed goal to ensure sustainable water and sanitation for all, it is hoped that the report will serve as strong evidence that treated wastewater can have an important role to play in social, environmental and economic development.

Notes to Editors:

Please download the report here:

www.unwater.org/publications/publications-detail/en/c/275896/

The Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) is the only global intergovernmental mechanism directly addressing the connectivity between terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems.

It aims to be a source of conceptual and practical guidance to be drawn upon by national and/or regional authorities for devising and implementing sustained action to prevent, reduce, control and/or eliminate marine degradation from land-based activities.

For more information please visit: www.unep.org/gpa/default.asp