Urgent Action Needed
to Protect Country's Water Supply
Ulaanbaatar/Bangkok, 22 March 2011 - Climate
change and rapid urbanization are threatening
fragile water resources in Mongolia, where
more than half of the inhabitants have no
access to clean water, says a report released
today by the Mongolia Water Authority and
the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP).
According to the 'Urban
Water Vulnerability to Climate Change in
Mongolia' report, extreme temperatures and
natural disasters such as droughts, flooding
and heavy snowfalls are becoming more frequent
and annual average temperatures have increased
by 2.1° Celsius since the 1940s.
According to the report,
the Mongolian climate will continue to change
dramatically over the next century. Study
results are emerging on the likely pattern
of this future climate and projections suggest
higher temperatures all year round, with
more snow in winter and less rain in summer.
"Mongolia's temperature
has already risen by more than 2?C in the
last seventy years. The study's climate
scenarios suggest that the country will
have to get used to having much less water
in the future," says Dr. Z. Batbayr,
Deputy Director of Mongolia Water Authority.
"The impact of this will be seen across
the board, through the degradation of the
natural environment, ecosystems, and harm
to the economy."
All surface water in
Mongolia is covered by ice for about six
months a year and so groundwater is the
primary source of water supply for major
urban and industrial centres and the extensive
animal husbandry sector. It is expected
that climate change will affect groundwater
resources throughout the country.
The effects of climate
change have been compounded by rapid urbanization,
reducing the availability of water for domestic
and industrial use.
The situation is particularly
serious in urban areas like the capital
of Ulaanbaatar, where nearly 40 percent
of the country's population resides and
where increasing demand and pollution is
exerting added pressure on water supplies,
sanitation and other public services, adds
the report.
Globally, Mongolia is
one of sixty countries with limited water
resources. The country's total water consumption
is approximately 540 million m3 per year
and over 80 percent is consumed by the industrial
and agricultural sectors and 20 percent
goes to domestic use. There is over 11,
000 m3 of water per year for each of the
country's 2.4 million people.
"If the status
quo for water management in Mongolia continues,
the country will not be able to provide
sustainable water resources for its population
under future climate change," says
Dr. Young-Woo Park, UNEP Regional Representative
for Asia and the Pacific. "Steps need
to be taken now so that Mongolia adapts
to its changing environment, and I am glad
that the Government has plans to act based
on the findings of the report."
In Ulaanbaatar, 50 percent
of the one million population live in informal
settlements (Ger areas) with a low-level
of public services. The daily water consumption
is only about 5-10 litres per capita per
day, and very few are connected to the city's
water distribution network.
Currently, water is
being withdrawn faster than the rate of
discharge in the city, where groundwater
tables have shown a marked decline in the
past 50 years.
A large part of the
water resources for the city comes from
the Tuul River, where continuing ecosystem
degradation will prove extremely costly
in terms of water and other services lost,
the report says.
Overall, improved conservation
of the Upper Tuul ecosystem is estimated
by the report to be worth some US$979 million
through the provision of water, tourism,
herding, and forest products.
The report makes five
key adaptation recommendations for Mongolia:
1) Develop an Integrated
Urban Water Management plan for the Tuul
River Basin, with active planning and management
of land use and human activities;
2) Increase investment
and rehabilitate existing water supply networks
for the domestic water supply. This should
include raising public awareness about saving
water, building water recycling plants,
and improving the management of water supply
utilities;
3) Take steps to reduce
the population's vulnerability to extreme
weather events, such as improving existing
flood protection systems, install an early
warning system, review housing and settlement
plans, and raise public awareness about
extreme weather events; and
4) Do more to improve
water quality, particularly through the
rehabilitation of wastewater treatment plants,
especially in Ulaanbaatar and have better
enforcement of the legal framework on water
supply, disposal and wastewater treatment.
This should include the introduction of
practices to reuse and recycle wastewater.
5) The report was launched
on World Water Day 2011, when the focus
is on sustainable development in the runup
to RIO+20 meeting, trans-boundary waters,
sanitation and coping with water scarcity.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The "Urban Water
Vulnerability to Climate Change in Mongolia"
was produced by Mongolia Water Authority
with the support of the United Nations Environment
Programme. It is a joint collaborative effort
of the Water Authority of the Mongolian
Ministry of Nature and the non-governmental
organisation, "Arvian Khelkhee".
In recent years the
exploration for natural resources has also
increased rapidly and many rivers, or parts
of the rivers, are polluted by industrial
and mining activities. ?any river basins
are under intensive use due to mining for
gold, silver, coal, precious stones, gravel,
and other natural resources.
Gold mining affects
the quality of 28 rivers in eight provinces
of Mongolia. In particular, the upper stream
of the Orkhon River, downstream reaches
of the Tuul River, and the Eroo River in
the Selenge River basin. Also the Orkhon,
Tuul, Kharaa and Khangal river basins are
experiencing increasing pollution as a result
of urbanization and industrial activities
within the basin
The rivers in Mongolia
are of mountainous origin and their major
source of water is rainfall. Mongolia has
around 4,100 rivers with a total length
of 67,000 kilometers. About 60 percent of
the river-runoff formed in the Mongolian
territory drains into Russia and China.
About World Water Day:
The UN General Assembly
designated the first World Water Day in
1993, and each subsequent year the March
22 event has highlighted a specific aspect
of freshwater sustainability. Over the years,
World Water Days have focused on transboundary
waters, sanitation, coping with water scarcity,
and water and culture.
For World Water Day
2010, UNEP launched the Clean Water for
a Healthy World report that also feeds into
the discussion by detailing how water quality
is as important as water quantity for satisfying
human and environmental needs, yet has received
far less investment, scientific support,
and public attention. Prepared by the Pacific
Institute, one of the world's leading non-profit
research organizations on freshwater issues,
the report brought global attention to the
need for clean, safe water-and action and
policy to address water pollution.
+ More
Making Biofuels Production
More Sustainable
International Environmental
Organizations' Joint Statement on the Launch
of the Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels
Certification System
The Roundtable for Sustainable
Biofuels (RSB), a leading multi-stakeholder
initiative that supports the development
of sustainable biofuels, launched its global
certification system during the World Biofuels
Markets Congress in Rotterdam on March 22,
2011.
As international environmental
organizations, we welcome the launch of
the new RSB certification system (rsb.epfl.ch/
), as we believe that it is crucial for
biofuels to be produced in a way that is
consistent with sustainable land use choices
and natural resource management, contributing
to both positive economic and social development.
Our organizations contributed
to the RSB process, along with more than
100 organizations from over 40 countries,
participating in the development of its
principles and criteria, and the associated
certification system. We feel that the stakeholder
engagement process followed by the RSB,
which followed ISEAL Alliance code of conduct
for standard-setting process, enhanced the
credibility and value of the RSB standard
and certification system.
Protecting diverse ecosystems
and carbon stocks, significantly reducing
greenhouse gas emissions compared to the
fossil reference, and addressing social
issues and supporting rural development
are all key elements of a sustainable biofuels
industry. We are pleased that the RSB certification
system will recognize biofuels produced
in such a way
Regulators should also
recognize this initiative and ensure that
economic operators using this standard benefit
from the various incentives for sustainable
biofuels. To this effect, we would like
to call on all relevant economic operators
to make commitments with regards to the
production or procurement of RSB certified
biofuels to facilitate the adoption of the
standard.
On a finite planet our
impact is often greater than we realize.
Standards and certification systems such
as the Forest Stewardship Council and Marine
Stewardship Council help create market conditions
that support responsible management and
certification through better management
practices, reducing environmental impacts
through every step of the supply chain.
We feel the RSB will be similarly effective
in creating these conditions for the biofuels
industry.
RSB certification will
be an important tool in advancing the sustainability
of the global biofuels industry. We will
closely follow developments in the adoption
of the standard, and look forward to supporting
its implementation and continual improvement
in the years to come.
