On Apr. 18 next year, thousands of people across the world will run six kilometres — the average distance women and children walk to find water in drought-hit parts of Africa.
The Dow Live Earth Run for Water is the brainchild of Live Earth’s CEO Kevin Wall and is aimed at raising awareness of what he believes will be a critical global crisis — lack of drinking water.
Wall recently spoke to Metro:
Is the planet’s fresh water in danger?
Well the planet is full of water but the reserve of drinkable water is actually getting smaller and more polluted. If you go to the drought areas of Africa the rivers are dry, women and children will walk six kilometres to get basic drinking water.
Do you think that humanity will solve the water problem?
I hope that corporations, governments and individuals will find a solution. It will take major corporations to change the way they do business and their water usage, it will take governments to continue to push forward to find a better policy as global citizens.
What sort of actions are being taken around the world?
There are different actions in different parts of the world. In the United States and Europe, you turn on the tap and the water comes out, so here we need to look at major conservation efforts and conserve this precious resource. But it is different in other parts of the world — in some parts it may be activism, in others it may be actually drilling water wells.
