Newsletter May 2021
Collaborations:
Silvia Lorrio – AEI, Spain
Maja Kolar – AEI, Spain
Ivar Thoralf Berthling – RCN, Norway
UN World Water Development Report 2021 ‘Valuing Water’
Publication of the UN World Water Development Report 2021: determining the true value of the “blue gold” we need to protect.
The 2021 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (UN WWDR 2021) entitled “Valuing Water” groups current methodologies and approaches to the valuation of water into five interrelated perspectives: valuing water sources, in situ water resources and ecosystems; valuing water infrastructure for water storage, use, reuse or supply augmentation; valuing water services, mainly drinking water, sanitation and related human health aspects; valuing water as an input to production and socio-economic activity, such as food and agriculture, energy and industry, business and employment; and other sociocultural values of water, including recreational, cultural and spiritual attributes. These are complemented with experiences from different global regions; opportunities to reconcile multiple values of water through more integrated and holistic approaches to governance; approaches to financing; and methods to address knowledge, research and capacity needs.
Launched in conjunction with World Water Day on 22 March 2021, the report provides decision-makers with knowledge and tools to formulate and implement sustainable water policies. It also offers best practice examples and in-depth analyses to stimulate ideas and actions for better stewardship in the water sector and beyond. The report is published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water and its production is coordinate by the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme.
VALUING WATER
The current status of water resources highlights the need for improved water resources management. Recognizing, measuring and expressing water’s worth, and incorporating it into decision-making, are fundamental to achieving sustainable and equitable water resources management and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Those who control how water is valued control how it is used. Values are a central aspect of power and equity in water resources governance. The failure to fully value water in all its different uses is considered a root cause, or a symptom, of the political neglect of water and its mismanagement. All too often, the value of water, or its full suite of multiple values, is not prominent in decision-making at all.
Whilst the term ‘value’ and the process of ‘valuation’ are well defined, there are several different views and perspectives of what ‘value’ specifically means to various user groups and stakeholders. There are also different methods for calculating value and different metrics to express it.
Differences in the way water is valued occur not only between stakeholder groups but are widespread within them. These divergent perspectives on water value and the best ways to calculate and express it, coupled with limited knowledge of the actual resource, present a challenging landscape for rapid improvements in valuing water. It is, for example, futile to attempt to quantitatively compare the value of water for domestic use, the human right to water, customary or religious beliefs, and the value of maintaining flows to preserve biodiversity. None of these should be sacrificed for the sake of achieving consistent valuation methodologies.
Traditional economic accounting, often a key means of informing policy decisions, tends to limit water values to the way that most other products are valued – using the recorded price or costs of water when economic transactions occur. However, in the case of water, there is no clear relationship between its price and its value. Where water is priced, meaning consumers are charged for using it, the price often reflects attempts for cost recovery and not value delivered. Yet, regarding valuation, economics remains a highly relevant, powerful and influential science, even though its application needs to be made more comprehensive.
Nevertheless, the different values of water need to be reconciled, and the trade-offs between them resolved and incorporated into systematic and inclusive planning and decision-making processes. The way forward, therefore, will be to further develop common approaches to valuation where feasible, but also to prioritize improved approaches to compare, contrast and merge different values, and to incorporate fair and equitable conclusions into improved policy and planning.
Click here for the Executive Summary
Click here for the Facts and Figures
AQUATAP-ES Stakeholders event
It is with great pleasure that we invite you to take part in the AQUATAP-ES stakeholders showcase event. It would be greatly appreciated if you could forward this information to your colleagues, friends, or anyone who may be interested in the topic.
- Registrations are Free & Open on the event webpage here
- More information on the AQUATAP-ES network and outcomes here
Programme
This showcase event brings together researchers, water and catchment managers and policy-makers from European and International institutions and stakeholders, Member States, universities and research institutes. Its aim is to identify common challenges and solutions to integrating the Ecosystem Services Approach into everyday management of our waters. The webinar will also offer interactive opportunities of exchange around the sustainability of the AQUATAP-ES network and the future for the Thematic Annual Programming action.
Programme for download here
Panel Members
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Ronald de Bruin |
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Dr Ronald de Bruin was appointed Director of the COST Association on 1 June 2016. Before joining the Association, Ronald was Director of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and Head of Department of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA). For almost eight years, he played a key role in and managing and setting up these European Union agencies from scratch. Prior to this, he was Deputy Director of a public-private partnership platform for the Information Society in the Netherlands for over three years. His main responsibilities included drafting the annual work programs including public-private partnership projects, managing the implementation of national multi-stakeholder projects, and coordinating EU-funded projects. For almost three years, he worked for a global COM company with top-100 clients. During his one-year stay as manager at KPMG, he worked on developing e-security services for the growing e-commerce market. He started his career as Policy Advisor for the Dutch national government, where, for three years, he was responsible for developing a national policy on e-security services, and scenarios for introducing digital TV. He is Ambassador to Brussels for the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Europe and Founding Director of the Greenleaf Center in Brussels. Dr De Bruin has also authored several books on servant-leadership, digital television, online consumer trust and computer security. He holds a Ph.D.in Law and Computer Science, an M.Sc. in Technology Management and a B.Sc. in Electronic Engineering. |
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Panagiotis Balabanis |
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Since 1990, Panagiotis Balabanis is working at the European Commission, DG Research and Innovation and he is actually Head of the sector Water in the Circular Economy and Biobased Systems Unit. In this context, he is dealing with issues related to water, resource efficiency and circular economy, with a view of supporting the transition to a healthy planet, which is climate neutral by 2050, and operating within safe planetary boundaries. During those years, Panagiotis Balabanis has been involved in the definition and implementation of successive research programmes in the field of water, environment and sustainable development. Panagiotis Balabanis holds a Diploma from the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece, a Master Degree (D.E.A - Diplome de d’Etudes Approfondies) and a Doctorate in "Mechanic of mass and energy exchanges", from the University J.Fourrier, Grenoble I, France. Before joining the European Commission he worked as research associate at the Agricultural University of Athens. |
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Mostafa Panahi |
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Mostafa Panahi currently works at the Graduate School of the Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Research Branch of Azad University in Tehran/Iran. He is the Dean of Faculty of the Environment and Head of Energy Engineering and Economics Department. Mostafa does research in Environmental and Energy Economics. His current projects are "Lead Author for Chapter 3 of the Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of IPBES"; "Economic Analysis of Low Carbon Economy Strategies in Power Generation Sector"; "Economic Assessment of Environmental Damages".
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Mary Kelly Quinn |
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AQUATAP-ES Scientific Coordinator |
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Dr Mary Kelly-Quinn is an associate professor in the School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin. Her research focuses on assessment of land-use and other anthropogenic activities on the physical, hydrochemical and ecological quality of surface waters with particular reference to multiple stressors and climate change. Among her current projects are SSNet (on small streams), SWAMP (on water quality in degraded peatlands), ESDecide (freshwater ecosystem services decision support) and recently completed RECONNECT (mapping and assessing barrier impacts on rivers). She is also collaborating on a project on natural capital accounting in Ireland and further afield with the University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and in Kenya with the University of Pwani on water quality issues. |
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Nihat Zal |
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Water Resources, Water Scarcity and Droughts Expert, EEA |
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Dr. Nihat Zal, having background in Physical Geography and Landscape Architecture, has been working as Project Manager at the European Environment Agency since 2011. He mainly deals with water resources, water scarcity and resource efficiency related issues in the area of water. He has been involved in various projects and activities not only in European region but also in West Balkans, Caucasus and Central Asia. He is author of numerous papers and reports. Since 2014, he has been working on the development of the European water accounts. Recently, the European Environment Agency has published the first geo-referenced water accounts for physical asset accounts and flow accounts at the river basin level. |
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Registration Open & Free
Register to this event please fill-in the online Registration Form.
The link to the Webinar will be sent to registered attendees closer to the Webinar date.
Context
The Thematic Annual Programming (TAP) action is a network of national projects focussed on specific RDI needs. It relies on the establishment of a network or cluster of excellence, creating a critical mass of research and technological excellence, the integration and sharing of knowledge, infrastructure, data and modelling tools, training and capacity building, as well as improved communication and networking with stakeholders and the scientific community.
More information here
The Water JPI AQUATAP-ES entitled “Developing Approaches for Assessing and Optimising the Value of Ecosystem Services’’ is the first TAP action launched by the Water JPI. AQUATAP-ES is a network of researchers from across Europe with the overall goal to inform Policy & Practice by seeking to foster integration of the ecosystem service concept/ framework into decision-making relating to the management of aquatic resources.
MORE INFORMATION ON THE AQUATAP-ES NETWORK AND OUTCOMES here
