UNEP to monitor water usage in Arab cities

The Arab cities will face a water shortage of 100 to 133 billion cubic meters per year by 2030 - an incident which will be the biggest economic, social and environmental challenge faced by Arab countries, said the UAE minister of Environment and Water.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed lat 23rd May between the Environment Centre for Arab Towns (Ecat) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) during the Integrated Water Resources Management conference.

As part of the MoU, the environmental impact of the major cities in the Arab world will be monitored to give UNEP a city-specific outlook on what is happening in the 22 countries in the region.

Water, and the lack of it, is high up on the political agenda in many countries and part of the MoU's task is to find solution to fast depleting water resources.