Water Security

The report identifies water security as a critical global risk that connects food production, energy generation, and climate stability. It warns that 'business-as-usual' water management will lead to a projected 40% shortfall between water demand and available supply by 2030, potentially destabilizing national security and economic growth. The document emphasizes that water is a 'universal security risk' and calls for a shift from fragmented management to public-private-expert coalitions to avoid systemic collapse.

• Global water demand is projected to outpace supply significantly by 2030, with a McKinsey & Company study indicating that collective human demand will exceed foreseen supply by approximately 40%.
• Industrial water demand is expected to grow from 16% of global demand today to 22% by 2030, with China alone projected to account for 40% of the additional worldwide industrial demand.
• Climate change threatens the stability of freshwater 'banks' in Asia, specifically mountain glaciers; the Himalayan glacial mass shrank at three times the rate of the previous decade in the 1990s and may largely disappear by the end of the century.
• There is a critical conflict between energy production and water security; for example, increasing US energy demand by 40% using current systems could increase freshwater access needs by 165%.
• The pursuit of biofuels creates an unsustainable trade-off, as producing these fuels by 2030 could consume between 20% and 100% of the total water currently used for global agriculture.
• Water-scarce nations are increasingly engaging in 'water grabs'—securing land-lease deals in water-rich developing countries to ensure food security, which may lead to a retreat from multilateral globalization.
• Current international trade patterns are misaligned with water resources, as three of the top ten food exporters are water-scarce and three of the top ten food importers are water-rich.

APA

Waughray, D. (2011). Water Security. World Economic Forum. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_WI_WaterSecurity_WaterFoodEnergyClimateNexus_2011.pdf

Chicago

Waughray, Dominic. Water Security. World Economic Forum, 2011. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_WI_WaterSecurity_WaterFoodEnergyClimateNexus_2011.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Waughray |first1=Dominic |title=Water Security |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=2011 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_WI_WaterSecurity_WaterFoodEnergyClimateNexus_2011.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{waughray2011water, author = {Waughray, Dominic}, title = {{Water Security}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2011}, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_WI_WaterSecurity_WaterFoodEnergyClimateNexus_2011.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }