São Paulo, Brazil is on the verge of facing a similar crisis to what was experienced in Cape Town, South Africa – “Day Zero"
São Paulo, Brazil is on the verge of facing a similar crisis to what was experienced in Cape Town, South Africa – “Day Zero.” The Water Institute at the University of Waterloo is working together with the Secretariat for the Environment of the State of Sao Paulo to put a comprehensive work plan to investigate the key water supply risks and water management opportunities available to the state of Sao Paulo. Roy Brouwer, Executive Director of the Water Institute and Professor in Waterloo’s Department of Economics, recently attended a water security workshop in Brazil and is available to speak about the partnership and water scarcity issues.
Roy Brouwer - Environmental Economics
Brouwer studies environmental economics and how it supports sustainable development and natural resource management in developed and developing countries. His main research interests are in water resource economics, in particular, water resource valuation, hydro-economic modelling and water policy instruments.
“The water challenges facing Sao Paulo demonstrate that the potential for a tragedy of the commons is looming, not just in Sao Paulo, but also in other mega-cities around the world where more than half of the global population live and work.”
“A fundamental paradigm shift is needed in the way we try to accommodate and shape social development and economic growth within a blue economy, recognizing that these mega-cities function within larger watersheds.”
— Roy Brouwer
