Global cooperation on water resources, equitable supply to the population, the development of technologies applied to this resource such as artificial technology (AI), are some of the points that come to the fore on World Water Day, today 22 of March.

Agreements and conventions for sustainable use of water

Among the international conventions and agreements on water resources and their management, the Albufera Agreement heads the list, between Spain and Portugal, in force since January 17, 2000. It is the Agreement on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Waters of the Hispano-Portuguese Hydrographic Basins, which was actually signed in 1998 and perfected with a Protocol for the Review of the Flow Regime in 2008, in order to “define for each hydrographic basin a regime of flows necessary to guarantee the good state of waters and current and future uses.

Also, significant is the Toulouse Agreement, between France and Spain, which operates under the background of the Helsinki Convention and the Water Framework Directive (WFD). It was signed in 2006 with the purpose “to coordinate in the best possible way the measures taken in the hydrographic basins located on both sides of the border, and on the other hand, to establish regular and followed administrative cooperation between the two countries regarding to the implementation of the DMA”.

The Helsinki Convention, signed in 1992, is officially called the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes. The instrument entered into force on October 6, 1996. It establishes that the parties must establish specific bilateral or multilateral agreements, as well as the creation of the necessary institutions to address responsibilities related to “transboundary waters, providing a solid legal framework.” to cooperation on shared water resources within the UNECE.”

Another important organization is the Conference of Ibero-American Water Directorates and Authorities (CODIA), which brings together the “politically responsible for the management of water resources from 22 Ibero-American countries, with representation from different organizations in the sector.” It is made up of Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Concern of the United Nations Organization for free access to water

The current challenges in terms of water, which involve geographical, logistical, climatic, technological, political issues, among others, accentuate the need for successful methods to satisfy the needs of the planet.

The UN points out that at least “40 % of the world’s population lives in shared basins.” Likewise, transboundary waters “represent 60 % of the world’s freshwater flows.”

On the other hand, the organization details that in the world, “153 countries have territory within at least 1 of the 310 transboundary river and lake basins and 468 inventoried transboundary aquifer systems.”

Cross-border collaboration agreements are essential to meet the goals of universal and equitable access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as improving water quality globally by 2030.

New technologies to improve water sustainability

Artificial intelligence (AI) is, without a doubt, a new and valuable ally to optimize the sustainability and efficiency of water resources. Siemens is one of the companies that stands out with solutions such as BuntPlanet and Siemens Water (SIWA).

These solutions use data collection for risk prediction and reduction, particularly related to flooding. Projections and simulations can put authorities on alert and avoid disasters.

It is also applied in methods to “identify leaks, detect pressure problems and optimize the complete flow of water”, which can reduce operating and maintenance costs, in addition to improving access to drinking water.

Demand management is, without a doubt, one of the most sensitive aspects. There, AI is applied to reduce waste “and meet water demand in the most effective way possible.”

M.Pino

Source: revistaeconomia

(Main reference image source: Unsplash+, in collaboration with Getty Images)

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On January 1, the world’s population will reach 8,019,876,189, according to Forbes, with an increase of 1%, equivalent to 75 million more people from early 2023. Although overall growth is steady, it remains at a slow pace.

Global growth in 2023 stood at 0.95%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Estimates for the beginning of 2024 predict 4.3 births and 2 deaths per second worldwide.

In November 2022, the UN estimated the world population at 8 billion, 11 years after reaching 7 billion. The discrepancy with U.S. Census Bureau figures is attributed to the lack of census counting and accurate registration systems in some countries.

With declining fertility rates and proportionally fewer young people, it is estimated that the world population will take more than 14 years to reach 9 billion and another 16.4 years to reach 10 billion.

In the last year, the growth rate of the United States was 0.53%, half the global rate. The population is projected to reach 335,893,238 on 1 January, an increase of 1,759,535 since early 2023 and 4,443,957 since the last census in April 2020.

If the current pace persists, the 2020s could be the slowest growth decade in U.S. history, with a rate of less than 4%, according to William Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer quoted by AP News. The slowest decade of growth followed the Great Depression of the 1930s, with a rate of 7.3%.

Although a slight rebound is expected after the pandemic, Frey notes that reaching 7.3% would be challenging.

In 2024, one birth every nine seconds and one death every 9.5 seconds in the U.S. However, immigration will prevent a population decline, adding one person every 28.3 seconds.

The combination of births, deaths, and net international migration will increase the U.S. population by one person every 24.2 seconds.

K. Tovar

Source: Bancaynegocios

(Reference image source: Joseph Chan, Unsplash)

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About 61 % of the world’s population is Internet user, and slightly less than 57 % uses social networks, a type of service that has seen its user base grow by 500 million in the last twelve months.

The number of users of social networks grew more than 13 % since July 2020, which is equivalent to more than 500 million users in the last year, as reflected in the “Digital 2021” report for the month of July by Hootsuite and We Are Social.

The data indicates that there are already 4,480 million people who use these platforms, which represents 56.8 % of the population globally. In addition, the time they dedicate to them has increased, with the daily time spent in them being 2 hours and 24 minutes.

For its part, the number of Internet users is close to 5,000 million (about 61 % of the world’s population). Internet users have increased by more than 250 million since the same time last year, registering a year-on-year growth of almost 6 %, which contrasts with a slight decrease in the time of Internet use.

There are already 5.27 billion phone users, just under 67 % of the world’s population. 99 % of social network users access the platforms through a mobile device.

K. Tovar

Source: Notiamérica

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