What’s causing water shortages?

The shortage of water in some parts of the world is one of the greatest risks of our time.

And the battle to secure supplies of the most vital life-giving commodities is political, environmental and economic.

The United Nations says there is an abundance of fresh water but that it is unevenly distributed around the world – and supplies are under increasing pressure.

Such as in Cape Town, where nearly all of the city’s four million residents do not have access to running water.

But what is being done to confront the crisis which affects at least one billion people around the globe?

And what has caused the crisis in the first place?

Presenter: Jane Dutton

Guests:

Kevin Winter – lecturer at the environmental and geographical sciences department, University of Cape Town

David Tickner – chief freshwater adviser, World Wildlife Fund

Mark Zeitoun – cofounder of the Water Security Research Centre