00:03We're talking about billions of people who lack safety-managed drinking water,
00:08but also we're talking about nearly 3.4 billion people who lack sanitation
00:12or lives under poor sanitation conditions.
00:19Water covers most of our planet,
00:21yet less than 1% of it is actually fresh water that we can use.
00:25Around half of the world's population faces severe water shortages
00:28for at least part of the year,
00:30and that pressure grows with every degree of warming and every expanding city.
00:34In the UAE, where rain is rare and there are no permanent rivers,
00:38most of the drinking water comes from the sea.
00:40In this episode of Earth Now, we ask why water scarcity matters,
00:44and what can be done about it.
00:47Water underpins food, energy and health.
00:49In December, the UAE and Senegal co-hosts the UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi,
00:54where heads of state will be pressed to turn decades of pledges
00:57into projects that are financed and delivered.
01:00The UAE and Abu Dhabi is the city where decision-makers,
01:05intellectuals, business community meet and discuss important topics,
01:10and water is not an exception.
01:13Growing populations, expanding cities and a warming climate
01:16are putting more pressure on a finite resource.
01:19With no permanent rivers,
01:21the UAE has engineered its own water security for thousands of years.
01:26Our ancestors invented the phallage over 3,000 years ago,
01:30or engineered the phallage, if you want, as a method for prosperity,
01:35where people can have access to water, but also irrigate from it and trade.
01:40Ancient flower channels have given way to vast desalination plants,
01:44and now artificial intelligence.
01:45It is experience the UAE wants to share,
01:48inviting the world to bring its own ideas to the table.
01:52We want you to come with ideas,
01:54we want you to come with optimism,
01:56but also with the merit to partner.
01:58Because, as I mentioned earlier,
02:00this is a global challenge that should be solved by everyone.
02:04And we hope to see you all in Abu Dhabi.
02:06Few understand the value of a single drop better than Dr. Sultan Al-Nayadi.
02:10The Emirati astronaut spent six months on the International Space Station,
02:14where water is recycled again and again.
02:17Living in space is an eye-opener.
02:20Water is clean.
02:21So we use water to create our own oxygen,
02:23we use water for hygiene,
02:26and we use water also to hydrate our food.
02:29So without water, we cannot sustain life on board the station.
02:32So every drop on board the International Space Station is accounted for.
02:36They say coffee of today, coffee of tomorrow.
02:39We recycle about 95% of our water.
02:42We do all of that through multiple filtrations,
02:45and we make sure that it's drinkable,
02:47and it's as drinking from a bottle here on air.
02:51Lessons from orbit applied on Earth.
02:53Recover, reuse, and waste nothing.
02:56It's a challenge facing every country,
02:58and few have felt it more sharply than those in Central Asia.
03:02From the Gulf, we travel to Central Asia,
03:04where water has shaped history for thousands of years.
03:07Uzbekistan depends on two great rivers that once fed the Oral Sea.
03:10In Uzbekistan, it's now leading efforts to restore the region,
03:14including planting new forests on the former seabed.
03:17Our team in Tashkent reports on how the country is making every drop count.
03:25In Uzbekistan, agriculture depends heavily on irrigation.
03:29Cannals, reservoirs, and pumping stations
03:32carry water across dry landscapes to farms, communities, and wetlands.
03:36As demand grows, the challenge is not only how much water is available,
03:41but how much reaches its destination.
03:44Water scarcity does not only mean drought.
03:47It means land left behind, fields that cannot be farmed,
03:51because the irrigation infrastructure does not reach them.
03:54World Bank project has been rebuilding that infrastructure
03:57across the Firgana Valley since 2017.
04:01This peach orchard is one result.
04:04The Firgana Valley is one of Uzbekistan's most important agricultural regions.
04:09But in some districts, an unreliable supply
04:11at the start of the growing season
04:13can live farmland without enough water when it's needed most.
04:40In western Uzbekistan, water travels much farther.
04:45This water comes from Amu Darya River.
04:48The modernized pumping station delivers it to farmers
04:51across Navai and Bukhara regions,
04:53irrigating more than 300,000 hectares of land.
04:57Water from the Amu Darya is pumped across the desert
04:59through the Amu Bukhara machine canal,
05:01major irrigation systems serving western Uzbekistan.
05:26Once the water has been lifted and transported,
05:28the next challenge is preventing it from seeping away
05:31before it reaches farmers.
05:54Farmers downstream says the difference is already visible.
05:57Wir haben nicht vieles, sondern wir haben einen neuen Kuhl-Wertrug.
06:02Wir haben eine Menge Wachstolz.
06:04Wir haben einen Kuhl-Wertrug und eine Kuhl-Wertrug.
06:08Wir haben einen Kuhl-Wertrug.
06:14Wir haben eine Kuhl-Wertrug.
06:23Wir sind eine Kuhl-Wertrug.
06:25Supply agriculture. Drainage and return flows from irrigated land also feed Dengizkul,
06:31a wetland of international importance in the Bukhara region. Recognized under the Ramsar
06:36Convention, the lake provides an important resting and wintering site for migratory birds.
06:55But farming is developed here. This is a unique habitat for flying birds in the countryside or northern birds for
07:05winter and so on.
07:13From mountain springs to desert canons and wetlands, the system connects agriculture with the wider environment.
07:20How efficiently water is moved and used will shape both farm production and natural habitats.
07:29From the Gulf to Central Asia, places facing some of the toughest water challenges are showing just what is possible,
07:36turning seawater into drinking water, growing more food with less, bringing new life to land once written off.
07:43Water scarcity is one of the greatest challenges of our time, but it's one we can meet.
07:48Every single one of us every single day has a part to play.
07:52Music
07:54Music
07:55Music
07:56Music
07:57Music
07:58Music
07:58Music
07:59more
08:00Vielen Dank.
