Cecilia Tortajada

University of Glasgow | UofG · School of Interdisciplinary Studies

After the remarkable 1st UN Water Conference held in 1977, in Mar del Plata, Argentina, the 2nd so-called UN Water Conference, which will be held in New York, in March, really is not an event which will look at global water problems holistically, as Mar del Plata did, but a “Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Implementation of International Decade...

In March 1977, UN organised a Water Conference, at high policymaking level, in Mar del Plata, Argentina. It was attended by 116 governments, most of whom were represented by their Water Ministers. This 2-week long meeting had major impacts on global water developments for the next three decades, a most remarkable achievement. It generated a wealth...

Most research on water poverty focuses on developing countries. However, research is also needed in developed countries, where water may be too expensive for some households. This paper examines the case of Spain, using data from 16 cities that combined are home to 35% of the Spanish population. We study both national and local systems of regulatio...

An analysis is made of the relationship between economic development and water sustainability in Campo de Dalías, in southeastern Spain. What used to be a poor, deserted region based on traditional agriculture has become one of the most prosperous regions in Spain. Economic development has been based on highly productive greenhouse agriculture, but...

Concrete is the second most consumed material in the world after water, making it an essential component of urban development. However, cheap housing comes at a price. Can we still afford to pay for it?

The importance and relevance of dams all over the world have gone through ups and downs during the past decades. Until about 1975, in general, in nearly all countries, large dams were considered to be beneficial for the social and economic development of the countries. During the late 1960s, slowly but steadily, controversies developed on the socia...

In Mexico, groundwater availability has been decreasing, especially in arid and semiarid regions; this can be addressed by boosting aquifer recharge, known as managed aquifer recharge, with stormwater or treated wastewater. In this paper, we use qualitative approaches to analyse three managed aquifer recharge projects in the country and discuss the...

Three general concerns with desalination are at present. First, it is expensive because of its high energy requirements. Second, is its environmental costs, especially in terms of brine disposal. The third is the carbon footprints of the construction and operation of desalination plants. For most locations, desalination is the most expensive form o...

The United States and China are the world’s largest agricultural-producing countries and among the top agricultural traders globally. The US-China trade war of 2018-2020 had a significant impact on the agricultural products of both countries and the rest of the world. In addition to the loss of billions suffered by American farmers and higher food...

Russia and Ukraine supply more than 30 countries that are net importers of wheat with at least 30% of their wheat imports. Both countries are top global exporters of barley, maize and fertilizers. Ukrainian grain feeds some of the world's most vulnerable people. It supplies over 50% of wheat that is distributed by the UN World Food Programme to all...

In 2021, Paul Polman, who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Unilever between 2009 and 2019, and Andrew Winston, a specialist on sustainable business, wrote Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take. This highly readable book provides a new and more appropriate framework for business, eschewing decades of dog...

Global warming is producing all types of extreme weather anomalies around the globe. In the past decade, wildfires have become rampant and received considerable attention. However, only during the last few years have extreme temperatures drawn global attention. According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the world ex...

The world's urban population is soaring, with an increasing number of people exposed to urban natural hazards such as riverine floods and storm surges. The global quantification of their extent is, however, still blurred. The ongoing surge in high-resolution data allows novel opportunities for quantification of hazards and exposure. Here, we provid...

Our global food system is increasingly causing devastating social and environmental impacts. A disproportionate number of populations face under-nourishment, over-nourishment and obesity, while some have far fewer struggles with nutrition. Meanwhile, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the agri-food industry are racking up at exponential rates. As...

Personal hygiene accounts for 30–45% of water use in households in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, and of this water, the greatest proportion is used for showering. More efficient showers can be achieved by using efficient technologies – mainly efficient showerheads – as well as through the adoption of susta...

The operations of large hydropower dams in the Mekong basin, while posing detrimental transboundary effects downstream, are not fully recognised in Vietnamese government policies, especially at the regional scale. This study adopts the concept of institutional fit to investigate policy gaps in addressing the transboundary water challenges character...

Water security and climate change are only two of the major problems humankind is facing at present, and they will continue to be so for decades to come. However, important as they are, there are many other critical problems the world will have to confront for the rest of the 21st century. Most of these problems are now known, but there may be some...

Water security and climate change are only two of the major long-term problems the world is facing at present. Increasing population, urbanisation and demands for a better quality of life all over the world mean more food, energy and other resources will be necessary in the future. Increasing food and energy supplies will require more efficient wat...

This book highlights the likely impacts of climate change in terms of global and national water securities, how different countries are attempting to address these complex problems and to what extent they are likely to succeed. A major global concern at present, especially after the social and economic havoc that has been caused by COVID-19 in only...

Across the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted food supply chains and threatened food security. Singapore is highly dependent on food imports and has an open economy that exposes it to volatile global markets, so it is acutely vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic on other countries, the effectiveness of measures taken by foreign governm...

100 years ago, China was ravaged by imperial mismanagement, foreign colonialism and civil wars. Its 400 million people lived in poverty. In July 1921, 13 disillusioned people met secretly in Shanghai’s French concession and Communist Party of China was born. Mao Zedong became the leader of this fledgling Party. In about three decades, the Party was...

COP26 will start in Glasgow, 31 October to 12 November 2021. The event will bring together governments to accelerate actions to achieve the goals that were unanimously agreed to in the Paris Agreement during COP21, in 2015. This Agreement was a momentous event during which all the governments of the world agreed to work together so that global warm...

Globally, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to a warming planet which is changing climates. While scientifically it is still not possible to say if a specific climatic event was intensified by global warming, and, if so, by how much, the overall trajectory of available scientific evidence during the last two decades is becoming...

The societal roles that hydropower and dams can play, including mitigation and adaptation to climate change, are neither fully appreciated nor understood in most countries. These have been a serious bone of contention between pro- and anti-dam lobbies since mid-1980s. During the post-2010 period, discussions on the benefits and costs of large dams...

China has proven all the doomsayers wrong. It has not slid into stagnation like Japan or the Republic of Korea, as the doomsayers had predicted, because of two key factors.

The future of water and wastewater management was an important issue of discussion during the 2021 Singapore International Water Week (SIWW). Within a short period of 12 years, SIWW has become the premier event globally where participants learn about the first-in-class practices developed in different parts of the world on different aspects of urba...

Laudato Si has garnered acclaim from world leaders and actors who support care for the environment. The encyclical has received praise for its ability to communicate the Church’s environmental views to the secular world. Yet the views of the Holy See in global environmental issues prior to Laudato Si have received inadequate attention. We conduct a...

The 1920s were not a good time for China. Its 400 million people mainly lived in rural areas, mired in poverty. The government of the day couldn’t do much to improve the lives of the Chinese people. The Chinese people faced poverty and famine. The reform and opening-up initiated by Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s totally changed the economic and so...

In the water sector, it is increasingly discussed that water reuse, or recycled wastewater, has become an essential part of the water cycle with an enormous potential to increase the amount of clean water that can be used for potable and non-potable purposes. Together with holistic management of water resources, which includes water conservation an...

Plastic food packaging and food waste are piling up across the globe and causing environmental havoc, but there is a way forward, Jorie Malsch and Cecilia Tortajada write.

Chinese President Xi Jinping took the world by surprise by declaring that China will “aim to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060”. To achieve these objectives, China will pursue “more vigorous policies and measures”.

The pandemic has seriously disrupted global plans to achieve SDG targets because of unexpected and very high economic, social and health costs. All governments had to borrow heavily and divert focus to counter the pandemic’s immediate adverse impacts, leaving limited resources and efforts towards achievement of SDGs.

Governments in Asia need to focus on long-term planning that informs policies, decision-making and allocation of finances to tackle the region’s water crisis. COVID-19 has made billions of people aware of the importance of having access to clean water.

Within a span of 40 years, China has lifted about 800 million people out of absolute poverty and become the second-largest economy in the world. In 1980 China’s per capita GDP was $194.80－10 percent of Brazil ($1,947.28) and 73 percent of India ($266.58). But thanks to years of good economic management and rapid growth, its per capita GDP increased...

Namibia is the most arid country in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Windhoek, the capital city, accelerated population growth and expanding economic activities, coupled with highly variable rainfall and multiyear droughts, have jeopardized water security and put enormous stress on socioeconomic development. This paper offers a review of the 2015–2017 drough...

One of the crucial but overlooked aspects of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the food and agricultural cooperation. In this paper, we argue that under BRI, China is building a 'Food Silk Road' with which the country attempts to reconstruct global food supply chains through overseas agricultural investment, agricultural technology transfer...

Urban floods are the result of natural and man-made events, with their economic, social, and environmental impacts reflecting policy and political decisions taken at different times in the history of cities. In this paper, we discuss flood events in Singapore over 2010 and 2011 in Orchard Road, one of the traditionally most important retail and tou...

India’s water management has been on an unsustainable path for decades. This has ensured that not enough water of appropriate qualities is available not only for basic human needs like drinking, cooking and proper personal hygiene but also for industrial, commercial, agricultural and environmental purposes. There is not a single Indian urban centre...

This chapter focuses on the legal, regulatory, and policy frameworks on recycled water (also known as water reuse) in Australia in general, with particular reference to potable use in Queensland and Western Australia. It also gives consideration to communication strategies as essential instruments to promote stakeholder involvement. Information pre...

While the importance of water for human and ecosystem survival has been known for thousands of years, water has not been on the international political agenda until around the mid-1970s. In 1977, during the United Nations Water Conference, held at a very high decision-making level, it firmly entered the global political agenda for the first time. T...

With rising energy demand in Asia, the high potential for hydropower development and the need for low-carbon energy development, hydropower would seem to have a significant role in South Asia’s energy future. However, the extent of hydropower development will depend on several risk factors, including the cost of alternative energy sources, the envi...

Progress in water conservation is dependent as much on human behavior as on the promise of new technologies. Digital feedback-based interventions present an opportunity to bring these two factors together, as increasingly sophisticated technologies can help change behaviors rather than simply solving problems caused by those behaviors. This paper e...

This section analyses gaps in the physical, operational, financial and institutional domains of PPWSA under the status quo situation. The term “gap” in the current context, stands for what is lacking in each of the domains from the perspective of going from “what it is at present basis” to “what it should be at basis.” What it should be at basis is...

The Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) is responsible for supplying drinking water to Phnom Penh. It was formally established in 1959 under a Royal Decree as a state-controlled business under the direct supervision of the Phnom Penh Municipality. However, the piped drinking water supply in Phnom Penh started well before 1959. In 1895, Compag...

Based on detailed analyses of PPWSA, PUB, National Water Agency of Singapore, and several other successful Asian water utilities carried out by the authors, a tool kit for possible consideration of the Chief Executives of water utilities in the cities of developing countries, both public and private, is proposed herewith.

The Khmer empire was the predecessor state to modern Cambodia. Angkor was its capital city till the early fifteenth century. Phnom Penh became the royal capital for 73 years, from 1432 to 1505. However, at that time, it was known as “Chaktomuk” (Four Faces), because of its location next to the four-branched confluence of the rivers Mekong, Tonlé Sa...

By any criteria, both the operational and financial positions of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, in 1993, were untenable. It has undergone major transformation during the 1993 to 2019 period. This can be best illustrated by noting the extent to which its business expanded during the 26-year period between 1993 and 2019.

Any good and usable framework for analysis has to define its unit of analysis, identify main intended users of the framework analysis and the end objective to be achieved by it. The proposed 4-D framework of analysis is primarily meant for the managers of urban water utilities. They can use it as a management tool to understand the strengths and we...

Phnom Penh is the capital city and is also the political and the economic centre of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Ravaged by internal conflicts and social and political turbulences for decades, Phnom Penh’s drinking water infrastructure, as well as the city’s overall management of all other services and infrastructure, were in shambles in 1993. Any sane...

Interviews were carried out with selected residents of Phnom Penh about their views and experiences with the providers of different urban services. The sample size of twenty was small and was not randomly selected. However, the interviews provide a good insight into residents’ views on the qualities of different urban service they are currently rec...

An important reason for the success of any organisation is the quality and the commitment of the people who work for it. The current top management team at PPWSA is a very experienced one. Most of the Deputy Director Generals have been with the institution for more than two decades.

The Four-Domain (4-D) Framework is used in this section to analyse PPWSA “business” in its four key domains.

This book analyses how a water utility from a developing country, Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, that was totally dysfunctional, corruption-ridden and literally bankrupt in 1993, became one of the most successful water utilities of the developing world in only about 15 years. By 2010, some of the performance indicators of this public sector uti...

As urban areas in developing economies globally continue to sprawl, planners must put people at the centre of urban development to solve for challenges such as transportation. Levels of urbanisation are currently the highest in developed North America, followed by Latin America, Europe and Oceania. By 2050, Asia and Africa are expected to become th...

As part of the circular economy, there is increasing interest internationally in water reuse, reclaimed water or recycled wastewater. This interest responds to water scarcity concerns at present and to demands projected for the resource by all sectors in the future, which will surpass freshwater available. It also responds to the incentive to close...

Any objective review of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) will show it has been a game changer for China. The plan has promoted the transition to ecological civilization and green growth through significantly strengthened environmental policies and legislation, which have reinforced earlier efforts to control. environmental pollution, and promoted...

Ensuring food security and preventing shortages despite importing most of its food has been one of Singapore’s successes in its handling of the pandemic.

Long-term developments such as population growth, urbanization and industrialization in emerging markets as well as the impending threat of climate change, have resulted in increasing impacts on natural resources globally. The increasingly globalized and interconnected world as well as the growing consumption of goods and services has resulted into...

A comprehensive strategy to manage floods in Singapore would comprise engineering, green and digital solutions.

Intelligent ways to use green areas, such as parks, pathways, and empty lots are the key to urban renewal, and one city in Mexico is sowing the seeds of progress in the space.

COVID-19 will unquestionably delay achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the latest global attempt to improve the quality of life of billions of people around the world by 2030. Increasing access to clean water and sanitation are among the 17 SDGs. During normal times, and even more during the present pandemic, access to clean w...

India is one of the world’s largest food producers. Ironically, the country is also home to the largest population of hungry people and one-third of the world’s malnourished children. The Global Hunger Index ranks India 102nd among 117 countries.The course of the COVID-19 pandemic has made these conditions worse. The virus has disrupted global and...

This article describes how COVID-19 crisis will increase demand for cleaner, safer water and more reliable and effective wastewater treatment everywhere. But success is far from guaranteed, not least because the pandemic also seems to be strengthening another trend: declining trust in public institutions.

China has made great advancement in assessing risks, by studying the changes in flood-prone areas, and identifying ways to reduce those risks. And apart from making remarkable improvements in forecasting and monitoring floods, and strengthened its warning and communication system, China has built extensive flood-control infrastructure along rivers...

Chinese translation of the opinion piece published by the The Conversation, June 8, 2020.

COVID-19 has exposed the ills and virtues of local communities, national systems, and global regimes when it comes to food. Since the pandemic began, talk of all things food has gained prominence in public and private. In fact, it has garnered a level of attention perhaps only rivalled by the stellar place toilet paper took in the collective imagin...

Pandemi COVID-19 akan pasti menunda tercapainya Tujuan Pembangunan Berkelanjutan atau Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), yang dicanangkan oleh PBB sebagai upaya berskala global untuk meningkatkan kualitas hidup miliaran orang di seluruh dunia, yang diharapkan dapat tercapai pada tahun 2030. Peningkatan akses terhadap air bersih dan sanitasi meru...

Megatrends are reshaping the world as we know it. Urbanisation, demographic and social change, resource scarcity and pollution, climate change, mass migration, technological breakthroughs, globalisation, and shifts in global economic and political power are some of the forces that are impacting the lives of billions of people due to their ‘global r...

Water resources are essential for every development activity, not only in terms of available quantity but also in terms of quality. Population growth and urbanisation are increasing the number of users and uses of water, making water resources scarcer and more polluted. Changes in rainfall patterns threaten to worsen these effects in many areas. Wa...

This report uses strategic foresight to study applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to achieve water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report discusses motivations, applications, and opportunities related to the adoption of AI for sustainable development. AI is a thriving field, that aims to build systems that function intell...

More than a decade ago, China decided to take a long hard look at the way it managed it water resources. Its aim was to put an end to the devastating floods and pollution that had long blighted the country and held back its economic development. The result has been nothing short of revolutionary. In just 15 years, China has gone from being behind t...

Link to download the article: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1aOag_LmuDmKlq ABSTRACT Most research on water poverty focuses on developing countries. However, research is also needed in developed countries, where water may be too expensive for some households. This paper examines the case of Spain, using data from 16 cities that combined are home t...

Climate change, natural resource pollution, and scarcity of various forms have become part of the national security agenda in countries all over the world. Although analysts have traditionally treated the strength of sovereign borders through the lens of political or economic issues, recent years have seen increasing attention paid to how environme...

China was a very different country when SARS struck in 2002. Per capita GDP was $1,148. In 2019 it was $10,123. China is better prepared to manage COVID-19. It learnt well from SARS.

China was a very different country when SARS struck in 2002. Per capita GDP was $1,148. In 2019 it was $10,123. China is better prepared to manage COVID-19. Also Medical facilities, scientific knowledge, research and development capabilities, and the quality of medical care in China have improved significantly since 2002. It learnt well from SARS.

China has made substantial progress in transforming water governance to respond to water crises and to support rapid socio-economic development. We aim to critically and comprehensively analyze important innovations in managerial approaches, as well as new developments and associated challenges in water policies, by bringing together cutting-edge r...

The natural complexity, heterogeneity, and extent of transboundary aquifers around the world, have led to controversy over which method or criteria should be used to identify and delineate their boundaries. Currently, there is no standard methodology that aquifer‐sharing countries can use to delineate the area of a transboundary aquifer. In the cas...

This chapter discusses the situation in Indian cities and towns with regard to wastewater generation, collection and treatment systems. The statistics pertaining to water supply by urban water utilities, wastewater generation, sewage collection, existing capacities for treatment of wastewater and actual volume of sewage treated in the existing faci...

This chapter discusses the range of legal measures, institutional and policy interventions and major programmes for water quality management and pollution control in India, including that for water quality monitoring. It lists all acts, government rules, policies, manuals and guidelines on sanitation, waste management and pollution control in India...

This chapter presents some reported cases of reuse of treated wastewater from urban areas of India for agriculture in peri urban areas, watering of public parks, and municipal uses, including the extent of use. It then discusses some of benefits of using treated wastewater. Finally, it highlights some infrastructure and policy related issues that k...

This chapter discusses the factors influencing the economic viability of wastewater treatment plants. The range of physical/environmental and socio-economic factors that determine the cost of treatment per unit volume of wastewater are first discussed. Subsequently, the range of physical and socio-economic factors that determine the economic value...

The chapter presents case studies on the performance of sewage treatment plants from four locations in India, viz., New Delhi, Pune, Nashik and Hyderabad. The various performance attributes, including technical (BOD and COD removal, bacteriological concentration of treated water, dissolved oxygen and pH), managerial (staff, water quality monitoring...

This chapter briefly discusses the findings and outcomes of the study on wastewater treatment and reuse that are covered in various chapters, vis-à-vis the key areas covered. It also discusses the future areas of research that would help design efficient wastewater treatment systems. It includes the key un-answered questions on the performance of t...

This chapter analyses the future market demand for treated wastewater, by considering the factors that drive the overall demand (in terms of volume) and the ‘willingness to pay’ including that for environmental management services in different time horizons. Along with time, the factors considered are: the overall water availability and demand situ...

Through a review of various published reports from the Central Pollution Control Board, Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Infrastructure Development Finance Company, the chapter presents the water quality status of selected stretches of some important rivers and their tributaries; analyses the...