[Webinar] The Water Governance Standard: Towards an Investment-Smart Rural Water Sector

According to a recent NITI Aayog estimate, 600 million people in India face high to extreme water stress. Per capita availability of freshwater has decreased 70% since independence. India is clearly a ‘water stressed’ country faced with a galloping water crisis. There is urgent need to markedly change our behaviour and attitude towards water if we are to meet our needs as well as that of nature’s, on a sustainable basis. And the time to do so is now.

This event marked the launch of "The Water Governance Standard - Making Water Everybody's Business", a rating and certification methodology (or toolkit) that seeks to incentivise and nudge communities and investors alike. Jointly developed by the Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) and the WOTR Centre for Resilience Studies (W-CReS), the Water Governance Standard encourages communities to adopt water-smart attitudes and behaviours, by linking progress in this regard to preferential access to investments and benefits; and the investors to provide the required financial and technical resources to such communities. With the goal of catalysing competitive dynamics in rural communities, "The Water Governance Standard" offers communities a pathway to improve their overall performance with regard to water management and governance.
The event hosted eminent keynote speakers and panellists who discussed the need for this kind of measuring system, its emphasis on community participation and governance, and its scope to become a standard for the flow of investment in this sector.

Primary language of the webinar: English

TIMESTAMPS

00:05 - Welcome Address by Ms. Malini Thadani, Trustee, The Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR)

02:52 - 1st Keynote Address by Mukund Rajan, CEO ECube Investments Advisers, Chairperson, Environment Committee, FICCI and Member ESG Committee, SEBI

17:02 - 2nd Keynote Address by Adrian Sym, CEO Alliance for Water Stewardship

31:53 - 3rd Keynote Address by Amit Chandra, MD Bain Capital, Founder of ATE Chandra Foundation;

47:16 - 4th Keynote Address by Mark Smith, DG International Water Management Institute

01:02:41 – A brief introduction of ‘The Water Governance Standard’ by Crispino Lobo, Lead author of the book and Managing Trustee of WOTR

01:14:17 – Launch of The Water Governance Standard E-book

01:18:12 – Dr. Alok Sikka, Country Head, International Water Management Institute, introduces the topic of discussion by Panel - Towards and Investment Smart Rural India

01:20:56 – Eshwer Kale, Thematic Lead, Water Resources Development and Governance, WOTR; co-author of “The Water Governance Standard”

01:30:25 – Jasmer Dhingra, Director Programmes, IDH

01:38:59 – Royston Braganza, CEO Grameen Impact Investments India

01:48:28 – Paul Raja Rao, Founder Secretary and ED, BIRDS (Bharat Integrated Rural Development Society)

01:55:03 – Q & A with the panellists, moderated by Dr. Alok Sikka

02:09:04 – Crispino Lobo speaks about the Way Forward

02:10:23 – Closing and Vote of Thanks by Malini Thadani