36


GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT OUTLOOK FOR YOUTH IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC


continues to be a major source of pollution in the Asia-Pacific region. As of 2015, less than 50 per cent of people in Afghanistan, Cambodia, India, Kiribati, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste had access to safe sanitation, and across the region tens of millions of people become ill, disabled or even die as a result of unsafe water and sanitation (Anand 2012). The Pacific island countries and territories face enormous stress from contamination of their limited water resources as a result of increasing populations, climate change and lifestyle change. On atolls, the groundwater supply exists in the form of freshwater lenses, where freshwater, being lighter, floats on top of salty seawater. These valuable lenses are very fragile and susceptible to exploitation and contamination by human activities – mainly from open-bottom toilets (Figure18; Kayanne 2017).


Where’s the fun without water? The Eaulympics


We all need water to survive, and so do the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Twelve out of 42 sports, 30 per cent, of the Summer Games, and 15 out of 15 sports, 100 per cent, of the Winter Games directly use water. And if you add the indirect use of water, such as when football pitches and volleyball beaches are watered or the water that the athletes need to drink, ALL Olympic and Paralympic Games need water.


Water circulates in the environment in all forms (Figure 19). Once water is polluted, it takes enormous amounts of energy and chemicals to purify it before it goes into your baby’s milk formula or into a swimming pool. In addition, there are chemical substances such as pesticides or pharmaceuticals which cannot be


Figure 18: Non-sustainable (left) and sustainable (right) water-use practices on atolls Source: Kayanne 2017


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120