Solving the dichotomy between the value and price of water is essential to face a future of significant water risks. Efficient management and raising public awareness of the importance of the water cycle are tools that will allow us to reach an international consensus in the face of the threat of overpopulation and climate change. On World Water Day, we discussed the value and price of water in the World Majlis at the Expo 2020 in Dubai.

Water is the main resilience factor to face climate change. The experts gathered in Stockholm state that urgent action is needed and establish the roadmap for the next COP 26 in Glasgow.

The Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC/AR 6, presented last August by the IPCC, has coincided with a whirlwind of extreme weather events that have sown the planet with disasters. Billions of people have experienced the reality of climate change and its seriousness. It is urgent to move from concern to action.

They treat wastewater with solar energy, capture CO₂ and transform pollutants into valuable compounds. Moreover, they reproduce on their own and can collaborate in water disinfection. They are microalgae, plants we still know very little about, which can surely provide many benefits to sustainable sanitation without technological gaps.

The more we know about environmental problems, the more global solutions become. The water footprint of economic activity is closely linked to the carbon footprint, and both have an impact on the ecological footprint. The goal of reducing greenhouse gases should take hydric stress into consideration in a global approach that is essential to achieve efficiency and justice.

The acceptance of sustainability as an economic asset is spreading among companies. It transforms the concept of social responsibility and brings economy closer to citizens. Water use efficiency is increasingly present in sustainable business growth strategies and is critical to attain the SDGs.

The listing of water rights in California on the Wall Street stock exchange has raised serious issues due to the negative influence it might have on the protection of the human right to water. It is the response of the free market to a scarce good that is subject to the ups and downs in availability and prices mainly due to the climate crisis and the increase in demand. It is a factor that opens the perspective to financial speculation and this must be avoided.   

Nature is our most important asset. Not only is it the base of our economy, it is also an essential part of ourselves. If it gets sick, we all get sick. And its health has significantly deteriorated in the past few decades without traditional economy taking this into account. It is urgent to move forward so that economic advances include nature in the definition of wealth and water is a good indicator. Revising the concept of GDP is a first step.