Beyond 2030

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Introduction (Excerpt):

Water is intrinsically linked to food and energy as agriculture accounts for the largest use of water. Before mapping the long term drivers of change, it is necessary to have a basic understanding of this nexus. The most significant other parameters are population growth, climate change, urbanization, agricultural technologies and economy. Of these parameters, economy is influenced by myriad variables and therefore difficult to envisage how it will be shaped beyond the next decade. However, it is possible to identify the contours of the remaining four parameters for the period from 2030 to 2050.

The purpose of mapping long term trends with regards to these parameters is to alert policy communities of the likely scenarios beyond the horizon which they need to bear in mind in the course of perspective planning. Once we understand the long term trends, we can identify the requirements of resources, demand and supply management, and compromises required for cooperation. Such mapping is only the first step and the limited objective of this bulletin. It can provide a foundation for a substantive discourse on water governance and development options from 2030 to 2050.