Water shortage

Some two dozen countries are already classified as water-scarce, and this-as areas as diverse as Israel, southern California and even the Netherlands know - is not a problem confined to the South. Already, as this book shows, fresh-water shortages are becoming a major cause of conflict both domestically and between states. In the future, the growing world population, further spread of irrigated agriculture and industrialization will all make increasing demands on scarce water resources.

Climate change is one of the greatest ecological and environmental challenges of our time, and the impacts of climate change disproportionately affect the world's 1.3 billion poor, the majority of whom are women. This report identifies many key challenges posed by climate change, examines their gender dimensions, and proposes timely recommendations for a broad base of stakeholders - international decision-makers, national ministries, the private sector, and local organizations.