Quentin Grafton is a professor of economics and director of the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University. He is also the director of the Food, Energy, Environment and Water (FE2W) Network, and in April 2010, he was appointed the UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Water Governance.
Dr. Grafton has an abiding interest in the problems of the environment, especially the overexploitation and management of renewable resources – particularly, fisheries and water. He leads the Geneva Actions on Human Water Security, focused on establishing a Global Human Water Security Fund to respond to the present and future risks and needs of people and their environments in terms of water.
On September 11, 2017, professor Grafton will be delivering the Water Institute RBC Distinguished Lecture, “Innovation, Incentives and Infrastructure in the Blue Economy,” at the Crowne Plaza in Kitchener.
In this interview with the Water Institute, professor Grafton talks about the way he sees economics in relation to the complex water problems facing our world, and why interdisciplinary approaches are crucial in water research.
In your personal opinion piece, “Say less do more: Solving the world’s water woes,” you identify that poor access to clean water and inadequate sanitation is not just a water problem, but a people and global problem. Can you expand on this?
It's really about priorities, who gets what and where we spend and invest. Governments (national, regional and local) need to make delivery of basic water services a priority. At least in towns and cities, delivery of basic water needs can be done so that the poor and vulnerable who are often obliged to pay water vendors and carters at a higher cost can access lower cost public water supply services (see figure below). It is a win-win.
You’re leading the Geneva Actions on Human Water Security with other signatories including Water Institute executive director Roy Brouwer. Can you talk about the objectives and outcomes that the founding signatories are working towards?
The Geneva Actions are about responding to the present and future risks and needs of people and their environments in terms of water. The key initial objective is to establish a Global Human Water Security Fund that, in time, would equal one cent per person per day or over USD 27 billion per year. The investments from the fund would be spent on concrete actions that we have identified as:
- Action One: Secure the Delivery of Basic Water Needs for People
- Action Two: Secure Improvements in the Condition of Watersheds, Streams, Rivers and Aquifers
- Action Three: Secure Better Water Planning, Management and Governance
The ultimate outcome of the Geneva Actions is a more water secure and sustainable world.
“2.4 billion people who lack access to improved sanitation and some 700 million or more who lack access to safe drinking water. Extra efforts and additional funds are needed now to transform how we use and conserve our precious water resources.” You have stated that this urgent challenge will not be resolved simply by “nice words, laudable principles or good intentions alone,” but that it requires individual efforts and meaningful actions. What can individuals start doing right now to help make a difference?
First step, become a signatory and help the Founding Signatories to establish a Global Human Water Security Fund! The estimated needs to meet Sustainable Development Goal 6, “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all,” by 2030 is some USD 114 billion per year between now and 2030. This needs a dedicated fund. If we have such a fund for Climate Change (Green Carbon Fund), why can't we have such a fund for the more immediate and pressing needs in terms of water?
On September 11, you’re delivering the Water Institute RBC Distinguished Lecture, “Innovation, Incentives and Infrastructure in the Blue Economy,” where you will review some of the obstacles to innovation in the context of the Blue Economy. What are some of the biggest challenges we are currently facing when it comes to innovation in this context?
We have very big gaps in terms of how we respond to risks (in general, but also in water) and we need better ways to consider risks, options and how to make decisions. This is both a private and public sector issue. Innovation in decision making, and how we invest are critical to a sustainable future in water is critically important. We also need to (1) Value Water; (2) Price Water and then (3) Invest (hard and soft responses) in ways to promote water security.
In order to solve complex water problems, you have said that it will take multiple approaches over a long period time and it must involve people. What is the importance of interdisciplinary research in this context?
Solving water problems is all about people; what we value, how we behave (incentives), and what we choose to invest in. Researchers at Waterloo and elsewhere should consider how they might take their insights and findings and apply them (with research partners in public and private sectors and with NGOs). A water researcher who cares about what her research will lead to must also engage with stakeholders, not just with academics. There are many ways to do this, and what suits one researcher may not suit another, but as researchers we cannot sit back and just assume or hope that our findings will just be 'taken up' without any action on our behalf. If research is worth doing, it's worth helping get it 'out there' and, ultimately, used.
The Water Institute RBC Distinguished Lecture is happening on September 11, 2017 at 3:30 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza in Kitchener. Professor Grafton will be delivering his keynote as part of Elsevier's 4th International Water Research Conference hosted by the Water Institute.
Register for the Water Institute RBC Distinguished Lecture.