UN report warns of looming water shortages in Med.

A grim picture of the future of the Mediterranean region has been painted by a 400-page United Nations-commissioned report which warns of water shortages and unsustainable practices.

The report, commissioned by the 21 nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea, estimates that 63 million people in the Mediterranean will be short of water by 2025.

"The percentage of unsustainable water supplies derived from fossil sources or from over-exploitation will grow (up to 30 per cent in Malta or Libya)," the report says.

The report - A Sustainable Future For the Mediterranean: The Blue Plan's Environment and Development Outlook - says the traditional Mediterranean response to increasing demand for water - increasing the supply - is reaching its limits.

On the other hand, managing the water demand could lead to major progress by limiting losses and inappropriate use and by ensuring more efficient use. Demand management could lead to savings of 24 per cent of total demand in 2025. The highest savings in volume could be made in the irrigated agriculture sector, which represents nearly 65 per cent of potential water savings in the Mediterranean.

The report, which was assembled by around 300 experts under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme's Athens-based Mediterranean Action Plan, says road traffic will continue to grow extensively up to 2025.

Referring to energy, the report says that the demand has more than doubled in the Mediterranean basin between 1970 and 2000. And by 2025, total demand for primary commercial energy could rise by 65 per cent throughout the region. More efficient use of energy, using currently available technologies, could bring savings of between 20 and 25 per cent in total energy demand by 2025.

While the report says that several tourist destinations have suffered considerable loss of income, it estimates that the number of tourists in coastal areas will almost double from 175 million in 2000 to 312 million in 2025.

In all, the number of domestic and international tourists should reach 637 million by 2025 - 273 million more than in 2000.

Another problem is the increase in fish farming of bass and bream, which could more than double by 2025.

The report aims to act as a warning to both decision makers and the general public about the threats to the environment posed by rapid development.

It calls for action to build a responsible, united and dynamic Mediterranean, recommending a number of solutions to design the future for the 430 million inhabitants.

Blue Plan chairman Lucien Chabason said sustainable development in the Mediterranean has specific features, with particular pressures coming from tourism, urban concentration in coastal areas, the development of irrigated and intensive agriculture, the trend to abandon or poorly manage mountain regions, over fishing and intercontinental maritime transport.