Desertification, pollution, and poor management are just three factors contributing to increasing thirst across the globe, with fresh supplies of our most vital resource running low. So why is COP so obsessed with emissions?
Now COP30 has kicked off in Brazil, it’s clear that the global climate conversation remains stubbornly carbon-centric. Yet while net zero targets and decarbonisation strategies dominate headlines, another crisis is accelerating in the background – one that could eclipse carbon as the defining environmental challenge – water scarcity.
The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference runs until November 21 and this year’s event has been billed as the ‘Nature COP’. Its setting in a forest and river basin which is home to one-fifth of the Earth’s freshwater – feels both symbolic and strategic.
Brazil has made clear that this COP is about more than emissions accounting. Its vision also centres on connecting climate action to people’s daily lives, to economies and accelerating implementation, which has long been the Achilles’ heel of previous agreements.
With six themes, including one of resilience for cities, infrastructure and water – one of the planet’s most precious resources; water still remains in the wings rather than taking centre-stage.
It is not just a victim of climate change – it’s a force multiplier. Droughts disrupt agriculture, constrain energy production and intensify social inequality. Floods devastate infrastructure and displace communities. And yet, despite it playing a central role in every aspect of climate resilience, water remains an afterthought in many national plans and investment frameworks.
COP30’s Amazonian backdrop offers a unique opportunity to rebalance the agenda – to look beyond carbon metrics and recognise that climate security is inseparable from water security.
Water innovation
Despite the uphill struggle to raise awareness, water innovations are taking shape. When Veolia announced recently one of the Middle East’s largest industrial water reuse projects – designed to produce 8.8 million cubic metres of recycled water each year – it made headlines around the world.
These mega-projects do more than recycle water – they restore balance. By returning treated water to the system rather than losing it to the sea, they mimic nature’s own hydrological cycle.
Back home, the UK faces its own water reckoning. The Environment Agency warns of a five-billion-litre daily shortfall by 2055, driven by population growth, climate volatility and ageing infrastructure. Yet water remains the ‘poor relation’ in the sustainability conversation – overshadowed by the louder debates around carbon and energy.
Water scarcity is a carbon story. Every litre saved or reused reduces the energy required for pumping, heating and purification and therefore lowers emissions. Despite repeated warnings, public awareness remains limited. Many still view water as endlessly abundant, even as reservoirs run low and droughts become more frequent.
Smaller-scale innovations could help bridge this gap. A recent UK pilot showed that simple behavioural prompts in hotel showers cut water use by more than half. It’s a small change with big implications: a reminder that technology and design can nudge behaviour before waste occurs. Just as Veolia’s project reclaims what’s already used, the shower interventions prevent overuse in the first place.
Together, they represent a powerful combination of innovation and stewardship, using technology to preserve and restore and not to deplete. And if you combine the two initiatives, you could help to make a fundamental difference to the water cycle and the impact on the planet.
Alongside these advances, government proposals could see all new homes in England fitted with water-saving showers and toilets, with rainwater systems to flush them, with the aim to cut domestic consumption from 137 to 110 litres per person per day by 2050.
Experts are also urging similar retrofits in existing homes, ensuring water efficiency isn’t just a new-build privilege but a national standard – saving both water and energy costs.
Learning from the past
Britain has faced scarcity before – the drought of 1976 still echoes as a lesson in collective restraint. But this time, we can’t wait for crisis to force our hand. What is needed is a proactive, integrated water strategy uniting regulators, industry and the public.
When advanced reuse plants complement household-level conservation, the combined impact can be transformative. The challenge lies not in invention, but in scaling – embedding these innovations across every home, business and community.
Water: the new carbon
The UK’s success in cutting carbon proves that collective action works. It’s time to apply the same urgency to water. Achieving water neutrality, driving reuse, shifting behaviours and embracing digital innovation are all parts of one integrated puzzle – one that calls for collaboration, not competition, between technology and nature.
The UK has the expertise and imagination to lead a global shift in water stewardship. But it starts with recognising water as what it truly is – a shared, finite resource underpinning every sustainable goal.
Steve Harding is founder and CEO at Showerkap, a UK climate tech company helping businesses move towards net zero through detailed monitoring of water and energy use, supported by behavioural insights and digital tools.
Image: Daniel Hooper 🌊 / Unsplash
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