One billion people do not have access to safe water and 2 billion lack proper sanitation, according to a new report by the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century, a U.N.-sponsored panel. Without radical steps, the situation will only get worse as the planet’s population surges from 6 billion to 8 billion by 2025. The report recommends that governments end water subsidies that encourage waste and that the private sector take the lead in providing water supplies because it alone has the money to make the massive investments needed. Access to clean water should be seen as a basic human right, the commission contends, as well as a key factor in the fight against diseases such as typhoid and cholera.
