locationsOxfordshire

Leading the water security challenge

Ricardo-AEA was pleased to be the Lead Sponsor for the International Water Security Conference held 16 – 18 April at the University of Oxford.  

Water security is a defining challenge for society in the 21st century and is intensified by a global change to societies, economies and climate at multiple scales. By supporting The International Conference on Water Security, Risk and Society we helped convene many of the world’s thought leaders from science, policy and enterprise to understand the status of and pathways to water security at multiple scales.

Robert Bell, Managing Director, Ricardo-AEA, was joined by 200 academics, policymakers and business leaders, to respond to society’s pressing water security challenges. The platform took stock of the evidence base informing policy choices and strategic business decisions. It also shed new light on investment priorities for science-policy-enterprise partnerships. The conference fostered exchange across developed and developing countries and regions, seeking to identify and elucidate global interdependencies between different socio-economic and cultural contexts.

Watch Robert Bell's presentation -  "Addressing water security risks: Can we leapfrog carbon?"

 

Abstract: Measures to tackle water security are developing quickly, but can we learn from efforts to manage other environmental issues?  For over 20 years the UK has deployed a changing combination of 3 basic policy tools to tackle carbon reduction and climate change:  advice/support, regulation, and market mechanisms.  No one tool has sufficed.  A complex mix has emerged, as the pitfalls of any single approach have become apparent.   Conflicts and synergies between carbon reduction and other environmental objectives have also been addressed.  Specific examples are high-lighted to stimulate discussion of possible lessons for future water policies.

To find out more about the conference and to access full event highlights, please visit:
http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/watersecurity/