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Rethinking responses to the world’s water crises

Grafton, Quentin ; Svensson, Jesper LU and Williams, John (2025) In Nature Sustainability 8(1). p.11-21
Abstract
The world faces multiple water crises, including overextraction, flooding, ecosystem degradation and inequitable safe water access. Insufficient funding and ineffective implementation impede progress in water access, while, in part, a misdiagnosis of the causes has prioritized some responses over others (for example, hard over soft infrastructure). We reframe the responses to mitigating the world’s water crises using a ‘beyond growth’ framing and compare it to mainstream thinking. Beyond growth is systems thinking that prioritizes the most disadvantaged. It seeks to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation by overcoming policy capture and inertia and by fostering place-based and justice-principled institutional changes.
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author
; and
author collaboration
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Sustainability
volume
8
issue
1
article number
e2015177118
pages
11 - 21
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:85219129349
ISSN
2398-9629
DOI
10.1038/s41893-024-01470-z
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bfa08ab2-182f-487c-9e25-6242cf23ccbb
date added to LUP
2025-04-15 10:35:26
date last changed
2025-07-03 10:39:07
@article{bfa08ab2-182f-487c-9e25-6242cf23ccbb,
  abstract     = {{The world faces multiple water crises, including overextraction, flooding, ecosystem degradation and inequitable safe water access. Insufficient funding and ineffective implementation impede progress in water access, while, in part, a misdiagnosis of the causes has prioritized some responses over others (for example, hard over soft infrastructure). We reframe the responses to mitigating the world’s water crises using a ‘beyond growth’ framing and compare it to mainstream thinking. Beyond growth is systems thinking that prioritizes the most disadvantaged. It seeks to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation by overcoming policy capture and inertia and by fostering place-based and justice-principled institutional changes.}},
  author       = {{Grafton, Quentin and Svensson, Jesper and Williams, John}},
  issn         = {{2398-9629}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{11--21}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Sustainability}},
  title        = {{Rethinking responses to the world’s water crises}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01470-z}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41893-024-01470-z}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}