Why Does Two-Thirds of the World's Population Still Not Have Access to Safe Drinking Water?

Despite promises made by world leaders nearly a decade ago, a new United Nations report has concluded it is still "business as usual" for 5 billion people -- about two-thirds of the world population -- who do not have access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation or enough food to eat. That's the grim assessment of "Water in a Changing World", the U.N.'s third triennial water development report since 2000. It was presented this spring at the World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, as several hundred protesters demonstrated against large dam construction and the privatization of water supplies in the developing world.

Population growth and a global shift in diet toward the consumption of more dairy products and meat will put more pressure on the world's water supplies in coming years even than climate change. Meat production requires 8 to 10 times more water than cereal production. At the same time, the report said, the world's population is growing by 80 million per year, and by 2050 is expected to reach more than 9 billion people, up by 50 percent from more than 6 billion today. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, regions that now lack sufficient water supply and sewage treatment, will account for half the world's population in 2100.