The quality of water in Latvia is slightly better than that in Estonia or Lithuania, but still worse than in some developing countries such as Bangladesh, according to a new United Nations report

Prepared by the United Nations Educational, Society and Cultural Organization, the World Water Development Report places Latvia 41st among 122 countries in terms of overall water quality, as well as ability and commitment to improving it. Estonia ranks 42nd and Lithuania 54th. The top three countries are Finland, Canada and New Zealand. Belgium is ranked worse, according to a UNESCO press release, "basically because of the low quantity and quality of its groundwater combined with heavy industrial pollution and poor treatment of wastewater." The report slams world leaders for not paying attention to a looming crisis in water quality and availability. The report was released 10 days before the Third World Water Forum in Japan, scheduled March 16-23, and as part of UNESCO's International Year of Freshwater activities. In terms of renewable water resources available per capita, Latvia ranks 54th, Estonia 73rd and Lithuania 84th. By comparison, Russia ranks 34th and the coterminous 48 states of the United States rank 78th. No. 1 is Greenland, with more than 10.7 million cubic meters of renewable water resources per person.