UNEP calls for 'greener' laws to avert world water crisis

Governments and law-makers need to integrate environmental concerns into water-use legislation to avert an impending global water crisis, according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), titled "Greening Water Law".

According to the report, launched Tuesday at World Water Week in Stockholm, competition is increasing between the rapidly growing human population-which needs water for drinking, sanitation, food production and economic development-and species and ecosystems, which rely on water to sustain their existence.

The key challenge now facing governments across the world is how to meet the growing water needs of human society, while maintaining freshwater ecosystems and supporting environmental sustainability.