Building a 2nd Generation of World Water Scenarios

This document briefly discusses the uses of qualitative and quantitative scenarios, then reviews the status of global water scenarios. It points out some of their major shortcomings: (i) the absence of scenarios that examine the combined impact of changing climate, land use and socio-economic factors on continental or global water resources; (ii) the lack of quantitative scenarios dealing with ecological issues; (iii) the weak treatment of water governance and water pricing issues.