SEAPLEX researchers estimate tens of thousands of tons of debris annua

DANJIANGKOU, China — North China is dying.

Exploring an escalating confrontation over resources with global implications.

Water scarcity, rapid economic growth and soaring energy demand are forming a tightening noose that could choke off China's modernization.

Underlying China's new standing in the world, like a tectonic fault line, is an increasingly fierce competition between energy and water that threatens to upend China's progress. Simply put, say Chinese authorities and government reports, China's demand for energy, particularly for coal, is outpacing its freshwater supply.

• Bad sanitation, water account for 7 percent of global disease
• Billions of people have no access to hygienic toilets

There is still one subject in international development that goes unmentioned. It is an issue that touches on the lives and health of millions of individuals, and one which world leaders have promised to address.

Sanitation is one of the last remaining taboos, but today a staggering 2.6 billion people have no access to a safe, hygienic toilet.

This week heads of state will meet at the UN for an historic meeting, where they will discuss and plan how to keep their promises set out ten years ago in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).