Water must be given a higher priority – this is what this year’s United Nations World Water Development Report “Valuing Water” calls for. The report is produced annually by UNESCO’s World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) for UN-Water and is traditionally released on March 22 – the World Water Day. The report shows that while there is a global consensus that freshwater is essential for survival and a human right, and that health, sanitation, agriculture and industry are not possible without clean water. Yet, there is a lack of attention and investment in this limited and vital resource in everyday political life. Instead, freshwater is far too often taken for unlimited granted, privatised, polluted and wasted worldwide. Therefore, the World Water Development Report concludes that the value of water needs to be more precisely determined for concrete political decisions and promotes defining the value of water with new methods and measures.

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