Up to 4.4 bn people will live with limited access to water in future: UN

The UN chief asked all people to play a role to help alleviate the shortage of water

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that without further efforts, between 3.5 and 4.4 billion people in the world will live with limited access to water, with more than 1 billion of them in major cities.

In his message on World Water Day, which falls on March 22, the UN chief said on Sunday that "the world's water resources are under unprecedented threat", Xinhua news agency reported.

"Today, some 2.2 billion people lack safe drinking water and 4.2 billion people live without access to adequate sanitation. Unless we act with urgency, the impacts of climate change are projected to exacerbate these figures," he