Policymakers, academics and private experts from around the world united to call for measures to address a looming water crisis and shore up sustainable growth at a forum last week.

Around 800 officials and researchers from some 20 countries and multinational agencies took part in the International Conference on River Restoration for Green Growth hosted on Friday in Seoul by the Korean government and the state-run Korea Water Resources Corp.

Participants underlined the significance of green growth given increasing water shortages, which are poised to take a huge toll on many parts of global community and their economy.

“Water affects everything ― climate, diversity, pollution, ocean acidification, poverty and others,” said Anthony Cox, head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s environment and economy integration division.

“Water and green growth can go together to foster economy and deflate resource-based systemic risks. Water management can preserve ecosystem services, which saves tremendous costs.”

Water security has been catapulted into the foreground of global policy discussions as swift urbanization and desertification stoke demand for drinking water amid global warming.

The nexus between water, energy, food and environment is crucial in drawing up a roadmap for the future of many countries, Cox added.

“If we’re not going green, there will likely be water scarcity, shocks to food supply, spiraling water demand and potential groundwater conflicts in some regions in Africa, Latin America and Asia.”

According to the United Nations, 1.2 billion people, or almost one-fifth of the world’s population, currently live in water-scarce areas and another 1.6 billion face economic water shortage, where countries lack necessary infrastructure to bring water from rivers and aquifers.

The OECD also projects the number of people living in river basins under “sever water stress” to double to 3.9 billion by 2050.

The U.N. also categorizes Korea as a water-stress nation, meaning there is an imbalance between use and resources.

To cope with this alarming situation, governments should change their economic system, said Chung Rae-kwon, director of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific’s environment and development unit.

“Green economy will not happen by the market due to time and price gaps,” he said. “It has to be the government to jumpstart economic transformation by grasping business opportunities. People also have to change their attitude and provide support.”

A growing number of governments have been devising strategies in recent years to balance economic development and environmental protection while courting private partners for clean technologies such as water treatment, electric cars and light emitting-diodes.

In the water-related sectors here, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. and Hanwha Engineering and Construction Corp. have branched out into desalination technology. In July, LG Electronics teamed up with Japan’s Hitachi Plant Technologies to venture into water treatment.

The two-day event was designed to discuss water and green growth and review the government’s project to revamp the country’s four largest river basins.

Attendees include Young Soo-gil, chairman of the Presidential Committee on Green Growth; Park Eun-kyung, president of the Korea Water Forum; Lee Kang-kun, a Seoul National University professor; Kenzo Hiroki, a research coordinator at Japan’s International Center for Water Hazard and Risk Management; and Boo Yoon-gyung, an executive director of Samsung C&T Corp.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)