Water Webinar Series

Water and Sustainable Development: Water Justice

Our next webinar will be Thursday 29 September 2022, at 10.00am (GMT). This event will discuss water justice on a global basis and what can be done about it.

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Water and poverty are often inextricably linked. Even as we approach the second quarter of the 21st century, at least half the global population do not receive water which is either not safe to drink or perceived to be unsafe. In terms of wastewater management, only about 12-15% of people in developing countries have access to proper wastewater management. Even in the world’s most advanced country, the USA, at least two million people do not have access to running water or indoor plumbing. Native American homes are 19 times more likely than white homes to lack indoor plumbing. Black and Latino's households are twice as likely. From Australia to Canada, and Brazil to India, indigenous people do not have access to indoor water supply or wastewater management. The Webinar will discuss water justice on a global basis and what can be done about it.

The webinar will be moderated by Professor Cecilia Tortajada of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Glasgow. Professor Fabrice Renaud, Head of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Director of the Dumfries Campus at the University of Glasgow, will introduce the webinar. The panel members will be Professor Quentin Grafton, Professor Anne Poelina, and Professor Asit K. Biswas. Closing remarks will be provided by Professor Graeme Roy, Dean of External Engagement in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow.

 

Moderator

Professor Cecilia Tortajada Professor in Practice, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Glasgow, UK; and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. She is a past president of the International Water Resources Association, and Member of the OECD Initiative on Water Governance and of the International Selection Committee of the Millennium Technology Prize, Technology Academy Finland. The main focus of her work is on impacts of global events on water resources, food, environment and societies.

 

Introduction

Professor Fabrice Renaud is Head of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professor of Environmental Risk and Community Resilience, University of Glasgow. Before that, Fabrice was Head of the Environmental Vulnerability and Ecosystem Services section of the United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security in Bonn, Germany. Fabrice leads research on (1) use of ecosystem-based approaches for reducing risks from natural hazards, and (2) broad sustainable development issues with a focus on human-environment interactions.

 

Panellists

Professor Quentin Grafton R. Quentin Grafton, FASSA, is Professor of Economics, Australian Laureate Fellow, Convenor of the Water Justice Hub, and Director of the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy (CWEEP) at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University. In April 2010 he was appointed the Chairholder, the UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Water Governance and between August 2013 and July 2014 served as Executive Director at the Australian National Institute of Public Policy (ANIPP). He currently serves as the Director of the Food, Energy, Environment and Water Network.

Professor Anne Poelina Nyikina Warrwa (Indigenous) - Custodian, PhD, PhD, MEd, MPH&TM, MA, Co-Chair Indigenous Studies Nulungu Institute Research University of Notre Dame, Adjunct Professor, College of Indigenous Education Futures, Arts & Society, Charles Darwin University, Darwin. Anne is the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) Inaugural First Nations appointment to its independent Advisory Committee on Social, Economic and Environmental Sciences (2022). Awarded Kailisa Budevi Earth and Environment Award, International Women’s Day (2022) recognition of her global standing. Anne is a Peter Cullen Fellow for Water Leadership (2011). In 2017, she was awarded a Laureate from the Women’s World Summit Foundation (Geneva), elected Chair of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council (2018), Visiting Fellow with Institute for Post-Colonial Studies, Melbourne and the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University, Canberra.

Professor Asit K. Biswas Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Glasgow, UK. He is one of the world’s leading authorities on water, food, environment, and development-related issues. He has a very distinguished career as an academic and holds seven Honorary Doctorates from leading European and Asian universities. He has been advisor to Presidents, Prime Ministers and Ministers in 23countries, six Heads of United Nations Agencies, two Secretary-Generals of OECD. He is a Stockholm Water Prize laurate. His work has been translated into 42 languages.

 

Closing Remarks

Professor Graeme Roy is Dean of External Engagement in the College of Social Sciences and Professor of Economics at the University of Glasgow. He is a former Senior Civil Servant in the Scottish Government and head of the First Minister’s Policy Unit. He is a past Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde. He has been a special adviser to the Scottish Parliament’s Economy Committee and is the incoming chair of the Scottish Fiscal Commission.

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Pictured: Professor Cecilia Tortajada; Professor Fabrice Renaud; Professor Quentin Grafton; Professor Anne Poelina; Professor Asit K. Biswas; Professor Graeme Roy

First published: 5 September 2022