The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report, No Escape: On the frontlines of Climate Change, Conflict and Forced Displacement, published ahead of COP29, held in November 2024 in Azerbaijan, reports on the impact that climate change has on those displaced and in places of conflict.

Making sober reading, in addition to providing analysis of the current impact of climate change on the most vulnerable, it warns of the acceleration of conflict and displacement as a result of unfettered climate change and tells the stories of refugees tackling the devastation caused by extreme weather events and conflict today.

By putting faces to the statistics, this report challenges the notion that climate change is a problem of the future and urges decision-makers to adopt the recommendations of the report to help support those in need and avoid an escalation of conflict and displacement exacerbated by climate change.

The report finds that 75% of people forced to flee their homes live in countries with high-to-extreme exposure to climate-related hazards. And whilst billions of dollars are going into climate finance to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change, little is being invested in the countries facing the harshest impacts of climate change, many of which are countries hosting the majority of forcibly displaced people. According to the report, regions considered ‘extremely fragile’ receive on average around $2 per person in annual adaptation funding, compared to $161 per person in non-fragile states.

As the world becomes increasingly volatile, so the number of people forcibly displaced in the world due to violence, conflict and climate-related hazards has accelerated, doubling to more than 120 million people over the past 10 years, with 90 million displaced people living in countries with high-to-extreme exposure to climate-related hazards and nearly half of all forcibly displaced people faced with the challenges of both conflict and the impact of climate change.

According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), over the past 10 years, weather-related disasters have caused 220 million internal displacements – equivalent to approximately 60,000 displacements per day. The report states that by 2040 the number of countries facing ‘extreme climate-related hazards’ is expected to rise from three to 65, the vast majority of which are already hosting displaced populations. Extreme heat is also predicted to rise significantly, with most refugee settlements and camps projected to experience twice as many days of dangerous heat by 2050.

The report finds that although conflict remains the primary cause of cross-border displacement, the impacts of climate change can aggravate tensions and weaken social cohesion, with climate change deepening existing inequalities. And the effect of rising temperatures on the availability of natural resources such as fresh water and productive land can further exacerbate social tensions.

Whilst the situation is dire, the UNHCR sets out a roadmap for a multi-faceted response, based both on evidence-based science and the lived experience of those who are being most affected by the impacts of conflict and climate extremes. The report demonstrates sustainable solutions to avoid worst case scenarios through integrated approaches that are ‘climate-smart, protection- and gender-centred, human rights-based, conflict-sensitive, and peace-responsive’, and explores the complex and multidimensional relationships between conflict, climate change and forced displacement and the prevailing dynamics of socio-economic and political conditions.

The report suggests approaches to help strengthen the resilience and inclusion of displaced people and their hosts and close the gaps in available resources by guiding financing decisions through a needs-based approach, concluding with recommendations for improving policies and prioritising financing for climate action and the protection of refugees.

The UNHCR’s call for action concludes with four recommendations. The first is to protect displaced people fleeing in the context of climate change impacts and disasters by applying and adapting existing legal tools, ensuring that international refugee and human rights laws, international humanitarian laws and regional mechanisms apply when the need for international protection arises in cases of displacement in the context of climate change impacts and disasters, including in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. It also urges for national and local policy frameworks to address climate change with National Adaptation Plans and National Development Plans that incorporate provisions for the protection of displaced people.

The second recommendation is for the voices and needs of displaced populations and host communities to be included in climate finance and policy decisions. The report calls for COP to recognise displacement and the protection of displaced people who are in climate vulnerable situations and enable vulnerable countries and communities to participate meaningfully in policy discussions, helping host countries to include refugees in their climate action policies and plans as a basis for funding national priorities, including national adaptation plans, nationally determined contributions, disaster risk reduction strategies and early warning systems.

The third recommendation is to invest in building climate resilience where needs are greatest, especially in fragile and conflict affected settings by ensuring that funding windows and mechanisms are available.

UNHCR calls for the mobilisation of technical assistance and institutional capacity to enable readiness to absorb, access and implement climate action finance, and ensure accountability to refugees, host countries and local communities to ensure a greater proportion of climate-sensitive and peace-responsive climate finance reaches those living on the frontlines of the climate crisis, especially in fragile and conflict-affected areas.

Finally, the report calls for an acceleration in the reduction of carbon emissions to prevent climate disaster and to avert and minimise further displacement.

The post The human cost of the climate crisis appeared first on The Source.

When we look at digital transformation there has been some confusion as to what it actually means. For me at least, it is a collection of digital tools that we – as a global industry – can use to inform us of our performance and what needs to be done, be this in addressing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), reducing energy intensive processes through operational and asset management efficiencies, or limiting the polluting impact that the water industry can have.

In this article I look at three examples of where digital transformation has been used:

• To help reduce the impact on people from heavy storms caused by climate change in Brazil, using LoRaWAN.
• Using a wastewater collection network digital twin to increase efficiency and reduce pollution incidence in China.
• Using advanced asset management laser-scanning technology in the UK to increase the efficiency of design and operational management.

Managing climate change resilience in Brazil

The first case study shows how digital transformation can be used to increase urban resilience.

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) projects a 1.5-fold increase in heavy storms across the globe, even under scenarios of a more conservative rise in temperatures. This increase in heavy storms is already being experienced, with flood events occurring in many different countries, including Pakistan, Brazil, and Germany.

Given that 55% of the world’s population lives in urban environments (UN DESA, 2019), there is an urgent need to strengthen the urban resilience of water, sanitation, and stormwater drainage infrastructure. The use of digital tools can help increase the urban resilience cycle through the three steps of response: rehabilitation, mitigation and preparedness.

One example of this is the use of a telemetric hydrological monitoring system using a Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) developed by the company ASTHON Tecnologia, to monitor, predict, and send alerts of extreme hydrological events in the urban area of Itajubá, a medium-sized city located in Brazil.

The Sapucaí River is the main watercourse that crosses the urban area of the city and has a long history of major floods. In recent years, flash floods of tributary streams of the Sapucaí River – within the urban area – have become more frequent. Intense, short-term rains cause riverbanks to overflow and streets to flood in several neighbourhoods. The mountainous and complex terrain requires a high density of monitoring stations, so that the full spatial variability of rainfall is captured. Furthermore, the response time of the basins is short, requiring telemetry measurements at very short intervals.

Since Itajubá is a medium-sized city, monetary resources are limited. Therefore, the development of the telemetric system with LoRaWAN was chosen as a low-cost solution. This consists of a digital circuit board, which is extremely compact, with low energy consumption, requiring a small battery with a charge that can last for months without needing a solar panel for recharging. The sensors used are nationally manufactured and low cost.

The entire development of the system is based on several years of cooperation between team members and municipal civil defence teams. Their experience made it possible to identify the municipality’s requirements in relation to the occurrence of extreme hydrological events. During the operation of the system and the collection of hydrological data, an ANN Application for Water Quality Forecasting is being trained to help increase accuracy in predictions.

Figure: 3-D model of the full life-cycle of the water assets

Wastewater network digital twins in China

This second case study looks at the rapid development of a wastewater network digital twin, which was developed to allow a low maintenance approach with comprehensive monitoring to enable facilitated operational management.

The project was delivered in the People’s Republic of China in Jiujiang, an underdeveloped area along the Yangtze River in Jiangxi Province. The area faced numerous challenges in the management of its wastewater collection network, which meant there was an absence of effective measures for managing urban flooding and overflow pollution, and a limited capability for the management of risk and proactive control.

The project brought together data from multiple sources, including operations, workforce, water assets and instruments, work processes, monitoring data, and numerical models to form a high-quality data platform and a smart monitoring system.

The development of the digital twin approach enabled the concept of the Urban Smart Water Steward in China to promote the integrated management of urban water and the environment, embracing water resources, raw water transportation, water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, the drainage network, sludge treatment, and open water.

Leveraging GIS, dynamic monitoring, numerical simulation, and big data, enhances smart water applications, fosters cross-departmental collaboration and efficient sharing of information.

The concept established a centralised, remote-control system which enables smart decision-making and dispatch planning. This approach reduced the likelihood of urban flooding and combined sewer overflows, enhanced the drainage system’s ability to respond to emergencies, and increased public satisfaction.

Figure:3D laser visualisation of an operational works

The platform serves an area of 80 km² in the urban area of Jiujiang, encompassing four wastewater treatment plants, 1,929 km of drainage pipe networks, over 70 pumping stations, three regulating reservoirs, and associated pipe, river, and lake facilities, providing for a population of 2.51 million.

Since it launched, a total of 316 user accounts have been activated, with the accumulated amount of monitoring data exceeding a billion. Daily water operation and management data has exceeded more than 49,600 entries. In addition, model prediction data that assists in operational decision-making has exceeded approximately 10 million entries. The project has resulted in more than 10 patents and over 40 software copyrights.

The project’s achievements include:

• 38% improvement in operational and maintenance efficiency;
• 26% improvement in energy efficiency;
• 60% reduction in maintenance failure rates;
• 80% of process operations and safety training are based on the digital twin application technology;
• in-depth data mining and analysis has enabled six successful cases for pollution source tracing and source pollution control;
• an educational resource for future generations of water engineers, attracting over 100 visits each year from a variety of stakeholders.

Increasing asset management efficiency in the UK

This case study looks at the application of Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology to provide effective asset management and design in both potable and wastewater management in the UK.

The water industry is a complex asset management industry, which due to its size is constantly transforming with an extension of assets due to population growth, climate change, and increasing environmental needs. Engineering design has gone from draughtsmen working on paper to various increasingly complex methods for capturing information around the industry’s assets.

Twenty years ago, paper manuals would have been used to capture how all of these assets were working as a system. Modern ways of working instead utilise laser-scanning and capture assets in a point cloud. The technology has developed to the extent that accuracies of surveying are now down to the millimetre.

Digital tools enable a large degree of remote working, reducing the need for engineers to go onsite when working on designs, cutting down on travel and its associated carbon emissions. This also enables more efficient design to take place, with digital technology able to record assets in locations that are difficult to access and scanning able to detect failing assets, enabling proactive maintenance.

In this case study digitalisation allowed the operator to rapidly ascertain the as-built status of the site without operational disruption, resulting in updates to key information, such as documents and drawings. Digitalisation of this asset improved understanding of the client’s equipment inventory, aiding operational teams with easily accessible data that helps in preparation for site scopes. The visual condition assessment, conducted through a programme called Vision, identified unknown issues and prompted remedial actions.

The future

Digital tools are increasingly being used to help the water industry operate in a more efficient way across the globe, increasing operational and asset management efficiency, serving the public in a more enhanced way, and ultimately protecting the environment more sustainably. Digital tools have a huge potential to benefit the sector – and this is just the beginning.

The author:

Oliver Grievson is an Associate Director at the global engineering consultancy AtkinsRéalis and a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor of Digital Water at the University of Exeter. He is also the Chair of IWA’s Digital Water Programme

The author is grateful for the case studies provided by Marina Batalini de Macedo of the Universidade de Itajubá, Brazil; Yufeng Guo of Three Gorges Smart Water Technology, China; and Gareth McIntyre of GDi, UK.

More information

IWA’s Digital Water Summit will take place on 12-14 November in Bilbao, Spain. To find out more and register to attend, visit https://digitalwatersummit.org/

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Recognising the importance of digitalisation for the water sector, IWA established the Digital Water Programme (DWP). This provides a platform to share experiences, promote leadership in the transition to digital water solutions, and consolidate lessons to help guide utilities during their digital transformation.

To ensure wider engagement on digital water, the DWP is encouraging the formation of regional and topical subgroups, where members can share experiences, identify gaps, and come up with efficient solutions on specific topics.

The Earth Observation (EO) for water management subgroup launched in the summer of 2021 as a Community of Practice (CoP). It brings together experts from different sectors of the water industry interested in the use of EO technologies for improved water quality and quantity management.

It aims to:

• Provide a platform to share approaches on the application of EO technologies for water management for different end-users (for example, urban water, drinking water, water resource management, environmental protection, aquaculture, and emergency response.)
• Enable linkages between cross-cutting scientific communities and end-users to attain a better understanding of how EO technology can be best used, and what the needs are of end-users
• Identify gaps and how these can be addressed in the understanding and use of EO technology in managing water.

Claudia Giardino is a senior researcher at CNR-IREA (National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment) in Milan and a leading expert in EO technology. She explains the benefits that the CoP is delivering: “To be part of a community always has an advantage. It is helpful to be part of a group in which there are experts from different fields participating. This working group focuses on innovation, best practice, and knowledge of how EO can benefit the water sector. We work in close cooperation with stakeholders worldwide.”

EO provides a valuable tool for water practitioners, as Giardino explains: “EO allows you to take synoptic (overview) measurements from space providing data that can inform water management and enable experts to forecast whether water targets will be met.

“EO allows us to make comparisons from different countries, without us having to deal with geographical boundaries, as we can get the data we need remotely”

“Updates are systematic, and we have now been collecting data over a number of years. As the data is captured frequently, we can track patterns and changes.

“One of the advantages of digital data is that it can be utilised using various IT tools. There are several key physical quantities that can be derived from EO for water resource management.”

Giardino explains that the many uses of EO for the water sector include the observation of physical aspects such as water levels, wave patterns and the presence or absence of ice, through to parameters such as water colour, organic matter, total suspended matter and those relating to biogeochemistry, and to others such as algal biomass.

She continues: “Another advantage of EO is that it allows us to make comparisons from different countries, without us having to deal with geographical boundaries, as we can get the data we need remotely.

“In terms of the disadvantages of EO, one problem can be cloud cover, which can prevent us observing the Earth’s surface. It can also be difficult to capture information about small lakes and streams. EO usually captures information of bio-physical parameters at the topmost layers of the water column, so the deepest layers cannot be observed. Because EO can retrieve a lot of information, it is particularly important to consider the complexities of the data collected.”

In recent years, knowledge has increased about the wider uses of EO. Giardino explains: “Utilities are now very confident in the use of EO to measure changes such as climate change. There is also more training being given at universities about the use of this technology. We are at a good time in the development of space technology. From scientists to citizens, there is a good understanding of what satellite technology can offer.

“EO is a helpful tool for tackling climate change. We now have data collected over a number of years, which enables us to look at the changes that are happening on the Earth’s surface viewed from space. In water resource management the contribution of EO is amazing, because it provides long-term measurements of water levels, helping us to understand how much water is stored in water basins, and when there is a flood event it can be used to measure the changes in weather patterns. It can be used to track eutrophication, which enables us to understand how much an ecosystem is suffering, maybe because the water quantity is decreasing or because nutrients in the aquatic ecosystem are increasing.

“EO data can be combined with hydrological and ecological modelling. We can provide forecasting of suspended sediments, for example. Experts working in freshwater can use EO to help plan drinking water provision in urban areas and treatments for purifying water for drinking can be better tailored to requirements.”

Giardino concludes: “One of the great opportunities of EO is the ability for water professionals to collaborate with people working in EO and modelling.

“We need people who have a multi-disciplinary background. This could be increased with investments in EO training in universities. It would be great for students to be taught about EO throughout their educational career.

“There is also the opportunity for legislation to be used to improve the sharing of knowledge between public and private companies, using the combination of EO and modelling for the better understanding of water management. There are still gaps of knowledge between different countries and continents that EO could help address. It has the potential to help water professionals reach their common goal of the protection and preservation of water resources.” •

More information

Find out more about the Earth Observation for water management CoP https://iwa-network.org/projects/earth-observation-for-water-management-community-of-practice/

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As the novel coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 continues to sweep across the globe, water professionals have been called upon to respond and work together in new ways and at unprecedented scales. As the pandemic locked down entire cities, families and firms had to re-assess their priorities. In doing so, they have recognised anew the worth of clean water, safe hygiene and dignified sanitation as more than just modern conveniences. They value our work as a critical force of health and life.

It has been said that war is a catalyst for transformation; it accelerates social and technological changes quietly under way. So it is with COVID-19. As governments, businesses and civil society race to defeat the invisible enemy, water professionals may discover in our health and economic crisis a window of opportunity. If we seize the moment, we can lock in reforms and innovations that transform our societies to become far more integrated, innovative, inclusive and resilient than before.

Local needs, global connections

The existential threat of this pandemic has led previously isolated or balkanised institutions – from local to global scales – to recognise how we are all in this together and share responsibility to and for one another. Water professionals have long felt this high degree of commonality. Water’s fluid and dynamic linkages determine how we ensure safe access and treat wastewater to all parts of a city, knowing that a weak link in one place can undermine the integrity of the whole supply and sanitation network.

Now, this highly contagious virus has led everyone to adopt a similar mindset, focused on a shared destiny with former strangers. Neighbours self-organise ‘social distancing’. City officials invest in tele-health tools. Businesses set aside proprietary advantages to cooperate on critical needs. Regional governments synchronise responses. Research bodies make specific data generic. Private publications that kept information behind paywalls now share vital knowledge for the public good. Water professionals are deeply embedded in each step, each dimension, making bold decisions and adopting smart tactics to an extent that is unprecedented and, potentially, irreversible.

Witness just one aspect of sharing: digital water technologies. Before the pandemic struck, cities were broadly aware of advanced metering infrastructure, remote sensing, real-time controls, modelling and optimisation. Each was known to bring a greater degree of automation, safety and security to utility operations – but the tools were too often seen as curiosities, or luxuries, and so were deferred to the future. That future arrived at the dawn of 2020.

Today, billions of families have been kept at home all day, compounding pressure on residential toilets and taps. Industrial needs have grown volatile. As a result, utilities have, at last, won support and funds to integrate digital systems to deal with the rapid changes in use and demand, helping us prioritise action in response to network interruptions at a time of tight staffing levels. Every walk of life, including the water sector, has opened its eyes to the potential for flexible and remote working; those who most embrace digital technologies have proven better able to cope.

Beyond enhancing internal connections, COVID-19 has nudged water professionals to forge stronger links with those outside their service area, with neighbouring cities and even across national borders. When local health, lives and ecological systems demand constant attention, it is never easy to look up and outwards, but doing so is essential if our sector is to thrive.

As a profession, we are rightly conservative. Rather than chase any new shiny object, the need to secure water day after day demands that we stay loyal to what has always worked before. The opportunities afforded by digital technologies, however, will only be realised if we embrace them as part of a deliberate and ongoing process of improvement. During the pandemic, the sharing of innovation and intellectual property, and access to facilities, demonstrates our willingness and ability to contribute to the larger process of open innovation.

Harnessing pressure to change

This sudden push to invest in innovation comes just as utility revenues fall. The lockdown slowed industrial activity, which reduced commercial demand for water, which eroded utility revenues. Meanwhile, underemployment left fewer families able to pay water bills. Yet, rather than shut off clients, utilities have instead been aggressively reconnecting customers, while suspending meter reading and bill collection. In India, certain utilities saw their revenues stop. The topic of water revenue instability is hardly new. What’s unprecedented is the global scale and rapid speed with which massive change has emerged, posing new threats – and opening new possibilities – for nearly every utility.

Developing countries feel this pressure to change most acutely. There, washing hands has always required reliable access to clean water. But while basic hygiene and sanitation was extended to the less fortunate almost as a form of noble or philanthropic charity before COVID-19, the pandemic has amplified – through self-interest – the reality that stopping the virus in peri-urban slums prevents its spread to more upscale city centres.

As if by magic, the tired old reasons given for lack of basic access – weak capacity, tight budgets, not enough water, competing needs – suddenly ring hollow. Pandemic reinforced how no individual is an island. Poorer, underserved homes do not exist in isolation from surrounding neighbourhoods. This new reality helps water professionals cut through bureaucratic inertia and secure resources at a speed and scale that had been impossible just six months earlier. The question (explored on p34) is how we can lock in this progress and ensure WASH remains politically a top priority long after COVID-19’s urgent threat subsides.

Leveraging our network

If strength comes through unity, utilities can build lasting solutions through institutional alliances. The International Water Association has plunged into this crisis to help use the pandemic as an opportunity to lock in local resilience.

From a position as a global membership organisation, IWA can channel the experiences, knowledge and willingness of water professionals to contribute from our much wider web of connections. This global network adds value even (or especially) with so many of us still cooped up at home.

In our virtual era, one prominent early IWA activity has been to launch a series of free webinars. It started with urgency. A panel of expert scientists shared their insights into the understanding of this particular virus (SARS-CoV-2) and the potential issues of concern in relation to water. That rapid response (see p20) exemplifies the ability to transfer scientific wisdom through clarity of execution, a skill that lies at the heart of the IWA network. It proved only the beginning, however, as further webinars allowed utility leaders, regulators and the WASH policy community to each present their concerns and responses in a robust conversation that linked experts, crossed city limits, and transcended basins, nations and continents.

The diffusion of knowledge has extended to the written word. IWA’s rapid response included preparation of special issues in journals, with some made open access. Our website hosts a dedicated page for useful resources.

Alongside all of this, IWA took the essential step of creating a hub for input and interactions – the COVID-19 Task Force. Chaired by Professor Joan Rose, this Task Force brings together representatives of 10 of IWA’s most COVID-19-relevant Specialist Groups, spanning scientific research and utility practice (see p19).

As an evolving entity, the IWA Task Force is undertaking a survey of utilities worldwide, to gather experiences with the pandemic, distil lessons learned, and share lessons. The IWA Task Force has shaped the webinar series, advanced new topics for specific events, and informed articles in this issue of The Source.

By connecting existing networks, while forging new ones, IWA provides a powerful means for diverse stakeholders to connect their thinking and create valuable outputs for the water sector. As with the holistic response to the virus, IWA proves the integrated whole is far greater than the sum of its individual parts. It is also elevating a new level of understanding in a pioneering field at the nexus of water and disease: sewage surveillance.

Wastewater – an epidemiological resource

Trust comes through transparency. For more than a century, water professionals have largely understood and communicated the critical value of basic WASH to prevent the spread of disease. Following this theme, IWA’s Task Force has helped draft a technical review on different aspects of wastewater treatment (see p23) as they relate to the SARS-CoV-2 virus – especially around detection.

As COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory disease, it may seem that SARS-CoV-2 should be of relatively limited concern to our sector. But, in water, one always finds new and important realms to discover, knowledge gaps need to be filled, and reassurance provided.

In its review, the IWA Task Force tracked the ‘journey’ of the virus through: faeces; raw sewage; the primary, secondary, tertiary treatment stages; sludge; and water for reuse. These systemic connections – from individuals to cities, and from sewers to nature – raise other topics of potential concern. One such issue is aerosolised sewage. Treatment plant workers are the water profession’s equivalent to those in intensive care units of hospitals and clinics. As frontline workers, they must be adequately protected by use of standard personal protective equipment, especially at the headworks of plants, where aerosols are most likely to occur. The same concern arises for those who are exposed when they empty faecal sludge into collection facilities. The public may also want reassurance. While SARS-CoV-2 may be less likely than other viruses to survive and be transmitted through wastewater, we need reassurance on the level of risk.

At the same time, we know a milligram of prevention is worth a kilogram of cure. The presence of virus material has opened up the strong possibility to monitor wastewater as a tool for screening public health. Long before the pandemic, The Source covered how detecting traces of drugs in sewage helps public health officials focus limited resources to make inroads against the opioid epidemic (May 2018). Now (see p26), the IWA Task Force is exploring how we can leverage the same tools, techniques and approaches to find, and halt, pockets of the pandemic before it can spread.

The COVID-19 version of this cutting-edge effort tests for virus genetic material at wastewater treatment plants – sometimes detecting its presence even before symptoms show up and cases are reported. The early warning ability could open the way for broader testing to help support public health decisions on reinstating lockdown measures in response to secondary outbreaks. Given the variables, however, an important contribution of the IWA Task Force is to help in the exchange of experiences needed to support greater consistency in the methods used.

Implementation poses challenges. It is hard to estimate how many cases might be present in the population from the amount of virus detected in sewage, as so many parameters affect the measurement (nature and time of transport in a sewer, possible dilution with rainwater, temperature, etc). Nor can it assess risks to the vulnerable communities not served by centralised plants or sewer networks. Even so, the innovation holds exciting potential for the sector to expand its societal contributions, as water professionals learn to adapt the technology to circumstances in developing countries.

A robust sector means a stronger society

COVID-19 is not the world’s first coronavirus, nor will it be the last, probably, and its effects will linger. Indeed, in coming years, pandemics will present the water sector with constant challenges – and opportunities.

One opportunity stems from our imagination. For while the cessation of life and economic activity has exacted a massive and painful toll, it has encouraged and potentially accelerated a shift toward a more climate-friendly paradigm.

Water is the blade of climate change that will cut most deeply. To respond and adapt, our sector has begun pursuing energy-positive wastewater treatment, embraced nature-based solutions, and applied circular economy principles to urban systems. We can advance and expand these efforts in the current and post-COVID-19 era, backed with financing from progressive entities such as the Green Climate Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

A tangible opportunity arises through our pragmatism. We can help shape economic stimulus packages – many on the scale of modern-day Marshall Plans – to be socially inclusive, incorporate green infrastructure, and accelerate water’s digital transformation. Governments want to invest in ‘shovel-ready’ projects that can be rolled out fast at significant scale to boost recovery. Working at the nexus of public health and economic development, water professionals can adapt and advance our most urgent priorities. For example, leakage control – increasingly supported by digital technologies – offers returns on investment in energy savings in treatment and distribution.

Our profession has long worked behind the scenes and, as a result, has too often been taken for granted. We chose this career because we know water to be a connective force that unites people with each other and with the natural world.

It took this catastrophe to elevate our quiet work into the open, where it belongs. To ensure it remains a central priority for all, let us leverage this window of opportunity to integrate, innovate and collaborate in ways that link experience in industrialised and developing world communities alike.

Crises test us. Kept in isolation, the water sector could grow brittle, vulnerable to this pandemic or the next. By uniting and sharing experience through collective actions under IWA, our sector and our civilisation can emerge far more resilient than we ever imagined possible.

Dr Kala Vairavamoorthy is CEO of the International Water Association

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