4.2.15 (HL)—Water stress causes

Water stress can arise through different pathways: industrial demand and pollution in one setting, or aridity, poverty and weak infrastructure in another.

Do not blame population alone. Trace demand sector, climate, storage, treatment, governance, conflict and who receives safe water.

An industrializing city may have finance but rising factory withdrawals; a rural dry region may have water nearby but lack storage and treatment.

Physical supply, economic capacity and allocation institutions differ by place.

Avoid ranking societies by a single label; compare the causal pathway and distribution of access.