Government of Canada

Canadian International Development Agency

www.cida.gc.ca

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Themes

Climate Change
Land Degradation
Access to Clean Water and Sanitation
Urbanization
Events


Climate Change

  • Without action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, average global temperatures will rise by 1.4oC to 5.8oC between 1990 and 2100.
  • Along with increases in precipitation, average global sea levels will rise between 9 and 88 cm by 2100, which has implications for the 50 to 70 percent of the world's population that currently live in low-lying coastal areas, mainly in developing countries.

Land Degradation

  • Each year, nearly 10 million hectares of land are permanently degraded.
  • The impact is most severe in dryland regions, especially in Africa.
  • Land degradation affects some 250 million people directly, and the livelihoods of nearly a billion more may be at some risk.
  • Yearly losses are estimated at some $50 billion worldwide.

Access to Clean Water and Sanitation

  • Globally, 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water.
  • 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation, contributing to the deaths of more than 15 million children each year.
  • Almost half of the world's population suffers from one or more diseases linked to inadequate water and sanitation services.

Urbanization

  • By the year 2015, over half of the world's people will live in urban communities; by 2030 that figure is estimated to rise to 95 percent.
  • In developing countries, the majority will live in under-equipped, substandard housing and will suffer from the environmental impacts of over-crowding and lack of basic infrastructure.

Events