The theme of this year's World Water Week is cooperation. Speaking at the High-Level panel of the week's opening ceremony, Peter Bakker put forward a challenge for the attendees: before we can cooperate we need a language we all understand when we talk about water. This language requires several elements:
1) definition of the risks associated with water, be they social (access to water and sanitation, health etc.), environmental (weather
events, floods, droughts) or other
2) agreement on a framework to value water throughout the economic process and to create incentives to avoid water waste and achieve efficient use of water
3) agreement on a much needed governance framework to allow for fair water allocation decisions
Water stress is local but we need to turn water into a strategic debate to agree on a governance framework to make decisions, manage risks, value water and allocate it accordingly in order to solve water related challenges he said.
Listen to Peter Bakker's message:
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