Book Launch - Tuesday, 11 September 2012

Together with the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation and the InterAction Council, UNU-INWEH joins the global dialogue on the world's water crisis and its implications for global security by bringing together experts in the water and policy communities through the launch of its book The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security Issue.

Download a copy of The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security Issue (PDF, 4MB)

Download the press release of the book launch event

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The Context: The Global Water Crisis

We are in the midst of a global water crisis. As shifting population dynamics and growing economic activity place an increased demand on finite fresh water resources, governments struggle to secure the needs of their citizens by ensuring access to an adequate amount of food at reasonable cost, a reliable energy supply, and a robust water infrastructure and supply system, all while continuing to sustain economic growth.

Meeting these challenges is a tall order if we are also to consider that there must be enough water to support essential ecosystem functions and services, and that climate change will have adverse impacts on the global water cycle. Nonetheless, the global community must strive to achieve critical development targets by ensuring adequate access to safe water and sanitation services, alleviating poverty for the world’s ‘bottom billion,’ and bridging the gender divide

What is becoming increasingly clear is that water can play a key role in assuring a secure future, at the individual level, but also at the national, regional and global levels.

 

Water is the key link to securing a peaceful future: by stimulating cooperation and innovation, and by offering opportunities to ensure equity, promote development, and support growth — so long as it is used, managed, governed and shared wisely.

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Agenda

09:30       Opening Remarks

• Welcome by Dr. Zafar Adeel, Director, UNU-INWEH

• Welcome by Dr. Thomas S. Axworthy, President and CEO, Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation and Secretary-General, InterAction Council

09:45       Welcome Address:

• The Rt. Honourable Mr. Jean Chrétien, Co-Chair, InterAction Council and Former Prime Minister of Canada

10:15       Panel Discussion: What Role Does Water Play in Achieving Global Security?

                         Moderator: Dr. Peter George, former President, McMaster University

                         Panellists:

Prof. Bruce Pardy, Professor, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University

Dr. Bill Cosgrove, President, EcoConsult

Ms. Harriet Bigas, Project Officer, UNU-INWEH

Prof. Susan Elliott, Dean, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo

11:00         Closing Remarks: Dr. Zafar Adeel, Director, UNU-INWEH

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