Overview
- The UN University's water institute finds many lakes, aquifers, wetlands and glaciers have crossed tipping points and cannot realistically be restored.
- By the numbers: 4 billion people face at least one month of severe water scarcity each year, 3 billion live with declining or unstable supplies, and 2 billion reside on subsiding land.
- Measurements show over half of large lakes have shrunk since the 1990s, about 70% of major aquifers are in long-term decline, 410 million hectares of wetlands are gone, and more than 30% of glacier mass has vanished since 1970.
- Agriculture drives the shortfall, accounting for roughly 70% of freshwater withdrawals, with about 40% of irrigation drawing on depleting groundwater.
- The report urges stricter limits on groundwater extraction, protection of remaining wetlands, and transformation of water‑intensive sectors, and it flags global risk transmission through trade, migration and supply chains ahead of a UN water conference later in 2026.