The world is entering an era of “global water bankruptcy,” with rivers, lakes, and aquifers depleting faster than they can be replenished, the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) said Tuesday.

"Water stress and water crisis are no longer sufficient descriptions of the world's new water realities," the report said, adding these terms were "framed as alerts about a future that could still be avoided" when the world has already entered a "new phase."

The report defines "water bankruptcy" as long-term water use exceeding natural replenishment, damaging ecosystems beyond recovery. Indicators include shrinking lakes, rivers failing to reach the sea, loss of 410 million hectares of wetlands over 50 years, and depletion of 70 percent of major aquifers. Climate change has worsened the crisis, cutting more than 30 percent of global glacier mass since 1970.

Kaveh Madani, UNU-INWEH director, said governments must confront the problem. "Be honest" and "file for bankruptcy today rather than delaying this decision," he said. "Let's adopt this framework. Let's understand this. Let us recognise this bitter reality today before we cause more irreversible damages."

Tim Wainwright of WaterAid said the report "captures a hard truth: the world's water crisis has crossed a point of no return." Scientists cautioned that local progress varies and some regions may not fit the global picture.