The clear links between water and climate change are growing more apparent every day. As increased greenhouse gas emissions continue to pollute our planet’s atmosphere, we are seeing the ravages that result: floods, droughts, melting polar ice caps, altered coastlines, and extreme weather conditions, among others. Global fresh water sources are limited, and mismanagement and corporate misuse continues to over-extract, pollute and squander water threaten to dry up the world’s resources.
The Global South, where water-stressed areas are abundant – is also feeling the most impact from climate change. Scientists predict that as we continue to pollute the planet, the effects of climate change will continue to worsen with the greatest impacts being borne by those least responsible for historic emissions. These impacts continue to be felt in more and more places around the world, as they were in Cape Town, South Africa and the water crisis that peaked in the city in 2018 and in Montevideo, Uruguay in 2023.
The Blue Planet project raises awareness about the link between the growing threats of climate change and the deepening water crisis and the struggles of people and communities around the worlds struggling to defend water services and resources. We have brought global water justice voices to United Nations water and climate conferences and negotiations and pressed governments for binding commitments on emission reductions. We continue to amplify the voices of people whose very lives are in danger without access to clean, safe water. We demand that governments and international institutions not only recognize the impacts of climate change on water resources, but act immediately on solutions that will protect water for future generations.