The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security - Unu-inweh ...

Other non-governmental collaborations, such as The Blue Economy Initiative in Canada, are national in scope. The Blue
Economy Initiative is a project founded by the Royal Bank of Canada, the Canadian Water Network and the Walter and
Duncan Gordon Foundation. The initiative seeks to catalyze Canadian leadership in the Blue Economy by illuminating
the economic benefits of sustainable water management, including risk avoidance, improvements to efficiency and
productivity, and the employment and economic opportunities arising from innovation in the water sector (Blue Economy
Initiative, 2011).
3.4. Investors
One sign that the Blue Economy is beginning to materialize is the growth of venture capital investment. According to Lux
Research, 2007 was water’s breakout year as a venture investment category, with 59% of the US $1.12 billion invested in
water by venture capitalists coming after this date (Lux Research, 2008). Some venture capital firms, such as XPV Capital,
based in Canada, have developed portfolios entirely around the water opportunity. Yet when compared to the broader
clean-tech sector, water still garners a relatively modest share, only about 3% of total clean-tech venture investments
(Cleantech Group, 2011). Further investment is likely being slowed by concerns about when to market, slow adoption
processes, uncertain regulatory environments, and the threat of large competitors (Cleantech Group, 2011).
4. Key Principles for the Blue Economy
To close the growing gap between global water supply and demand, innovations like those mentioned above will need to
become increasingly mainstream. For this to happen, successful players in the Blue Economy will be those governments,
businesses, organisations and partnerships that heed the following key principles:
• Knowing and understanding the value of water. The world has entered a knowledge-based economy, but many
gaps still remain in most countries’ basic understanding of water. The starting point needs to be the creation of
detailed water accounts that track water systems – rivers, lakes, and aquifers – within a country, including which
ones are stressed, how much water is being withdrawn and by whom, which are the dependent ecosystems,
and what the requirements are for sustainability. These accounts need to reflect water’s many values, including
non-market environmental and social benefits, and be incorporated into a full cost pricing of water for all water
use sectors.
• Adhering to a conservation ethic that underpins the Blue Economy. Augmenting the current global water supply
will not close the growing gap between supply and demand. Boosting water efficiency and focusing on re-use,
recycling and supporting green infrastructure should be the bedrock for the Blue Economy. Increasing water
productivity in agriculture will be a fundamental part of the solution as farmers use more than 70% of current
global water withdrawals.
• Getting the public on board. With the exception of countries facing severe water scarcity, the general public has
continued to believe that fresh water is abundant. In order to create a public and political appetite for innovation
and new approaches, this myth has to be broken. Governments, non-governmental groups and businesses should
work together to raise the water literacy of their citizenry.
• No one can do it alone. To date, the brightest innovations have involved active collaboration between governments,
the private sector, research institutions, non-profit organizations and communities. Making progress on the Blue
Economy requires these creative partnerships to bring together diverse knowledge and expertise necessary to
address increasingly challenging water issues.
• It’s about people, not technology. The most innovative water technologies will have no value unless the human
capacity exists to install, operate and manage them. Moreover, much of the innovation required to stimulate
appropriate water solutions will need to come from the people designing the governance frameworks that embed
policies, pricing structures, new institutions and incentive programmes to support the Blue Economy.
64 The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security Issue