Protecting green water for food security and thriving economies

Anyone who is involved in producing food knows that the rain cycles are disrupted, whether or not they ‘’ believe” in climate change. We could say that climate change is the shark, but water is its teeth. So what is the relationship between climate change and the increasing water disruptions we are experiencing around the world, long periods of strong heat with delayed rains punctuated by strong intense rains causing flooding?

I recently attended a webinar organized by The World Bank entitled: Moisture in motion: integrating green water flows in transboundary waters governance and finance. The World Bank is raising awareness about a little understood phenomenon, green water, which could make all the difference to our economies and whether or not humans have access to food and water. Green water is the water that moves through green plants and is stored in the earth. Richard Damania, the chief economist at The World Bank, explains that only 53% of our rain comes from the ocean. The other 47% comes from the land, water that is recycled by green plants; moving it up from the water reserves in the soil, stimulating the formation of clouds and rain and providing the pathways back down into the ground to refill the groundwater. We tend to think of water on land in the forms we can see, rivers and lakes. Damania points out that only 35% of the fresh water on land is stored in rivers and lakes. The other 65% is stored in soil moisture. 

Globally, 75% of the calories that humans consume come from rainfed agriculture. Which means that disruption of the rain cycles have major economic consequences. Deforestation has led to significant rainfall reduction in the past 25 years. If we depend on rain to produce food, understanding how the green water cycle impacts rain, takes on huge importance both for human wellbeing and for economies, which is why The World Bank is taking this issue on. Between climate change and the growing population, more and more people are taking water from groundwater reserves. At the same time we are creating conditions that make it more difficult for water to percolate into the earth, refilling those reserves. Bare soils, hard packed surfaces, and the loss of wetlands and forests mean that more water runs off the land and less soaks in. It’s like taking money out of your bank account faster than you deposit money into it. We have surpassed the planetary boundary for green water and we are already starting to see the consequences.

 Greenhouse gas is not the only factor that contributes to climate change. During the webinar, different speakers highlighted the importance of ecosystems which support the green water cycle and can have a tangible impact on rain cycles and agricultural resilience. Forests have a huge impact both in creating rain and in storing water in the ground. Where rain falls depends a lot on the moisture flows carried on the wind through forests. Studies show that agricultural losses due to drought were 50% less when farms are downwind from forest cover. Natural forests, not monoculture plantations, have the greatest impact on the capacity to store and cycle soil moisture.

Four hundred million hectares of wetlands have been lost globally since 1970 from our landscapes, yet they are critical  in allowing excessive rains to penetrate into the ground, protecting us from both flooding and ensuing droughts or forest fires. Agricultural systems can make a difference as well to the soil’s capacity to store and infiltrate water.. Regenerative agriculture, agroforestry and agroecology are more effective at protecting and improving soil moisture storage than conventional industrial agriculture. 

As we increasingly feel the consequences of these unsustainable systems and foresee the economic results, what can we do to incentivize protecting our food and water supplies? Our current economic systems provide more incentives to destroy and exploit the very diversity that would save us. The people who experience the impacts of droughts and floods do not necessarily make the decisions about land use which affect them because watersheds span different jurisdictions. Hence the title of the webinar: Moisture in motion: integrating green water flows in transboundary waters governance and finance.

Unfortunately, The World Bank is ahead of the pack with recognizing that the current global practices of governance and finance are driving us rapidly towards a situation which puts our food security and our economy in peril. But until we recognize the problem, there is little motivation to make the changes which will resolve it. Financial incentives to protect the ecosystems which will restore our green water reserves and protect our rain cycles are urgently needed. Recognition that intact forests and wetlands are global commons, impacting the wellbeing not only of the people in that area but often far downwind or downstream, is needed in order to make cross boundary agreements to protect our common good.

This webinar asked us the question about integrating green water flows into transboundary waters governance and finance. It pointed out the issue but provided few answers. Until more people are aware of the importance of green water, those badly needed solutions and transboundary agreements will not be implemented in any substantial way.