UNITED NATIONS, United States: Humanity's 'lifeblood' — water — is increasingly at risk around the world due to 'vampiric overconsumption and overdevelopment,' the UN warned in a report, published hours ahead of a major summit on the issue was set to begin on Wednesday.

The world is 'blindly traveling a dangerous path' as 'unsustainable water use, pollution and unchecked global warming are draining humanity's lifeblood,' United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a foreword to the report, released hours ahead of the first major UN meeting on water resources in nearly half a century.