The Economics of Water: Valuing the Hydrological Cycle as a Global Common Good

We need a sea change in how we understand and act on water. The purpose is clear: bring back stability to the global water cycle, deliver on the human right to safe water, achieve food security and development that works for all, and keep our planet safe for generations to come.

The global crisis of water hurts the most vulnerable first, and hardest. More than 1,000 children under five die every day from unsafe water and lack of sanitation. Yet no community or economy will be spared the consequences of a water cycle that is out of kilter – itself the result of our collective actions over decades. Most dangerously, we will fail on climate change if we fail on water. We will also fail on each and every one of the Sustainable Development Goals.