The careless use of water, through overuse and pollution, is depleting our resources and thus our climate resilience to an extent never before experienced. The unequal distribution of water, the loss of ecosystem services and the associated health risks are increasingly leading to regional water emergencies, which are further exacerbated by socio-economic and geopolitical developments. 
This is because climate change is increasingly altering global precipitation patterns. As a result, and in connection with soil sealing and soil erosion due to the loss of biodiversity, extended heat waves and dry periods, the global water regime is changing to an unprecedented extent. Despite an increase in heavy rainfall events and the associated flooding in many regions of the world, groundwater levels are continuously falling. This is an urgent topic that WBGU has been working on since its last report ‘Healthy Living on a Healthy Planet’ and which argues for keeping options open and for this purpose outlining solutions for resilient water management to politicians – which the interested public can also look forward to. 
As a medical doctor, it was of central importance for Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann to incorporate the key messages of ‘Healthy Living on a Healthy Planet’ into the new report. The increasing water pollution in many parts of the world, but also the insufficient quality of flowing waters in Germany, pose enormous risks to human health and biodiversity, on which our health depends. In its policy paper ‘Biodiversity: Act Now for Nature and Humanity’, the WBGU had already highlighted the situation – ‘Only if healthy ecosystems sustainably provide services that are essential for survival can humans also live healthy lives. This requires successful climate protection and biodiversity conservation’, was the basic message this spring.

Traidl-Hoffmann emphasises the role of preventive health protection and the increasingly important role of science: ‘Protecting our water resources is a responsibility for society as a whole, with science as the key to sustainable approaches. Societies and politicians around the world are looking for solutions to distribute water more equal and maintain water quality. To do this, we need better and faster methods to monitor and improve water quality. Ubiquitous chemicals must be detected and stopped at an early stage to avoid future disasters, such as PFAS contaminations. The effects and removal of microplastics and the use of substances like lithium require scientific monitoring.’ The environmental physician was appointed to the nine-member WBGU panel in 2022. On 16 October 2024, she and the WBGU will also present the report to the public.

Click here for the WBGU press release and the new report.