Mark Smith – Economist viewpoint     Our economic growth agendas of today risk playing dice with poverty reduction and prosperity if water risks continue to go unrecognised, argues Mark Smith, director of the IUCN Global Water Programme.

Can you manage what you don’t measure?  Produce such as coffee, cotton, and oil are traded commodities that are measured, managed, negotiated and priced based on market supply and demand.  Yet, what happens when measuring things of great value that are more nuanced, more complex, not commodities, not privately owned and not traded in markets,  such as rainfall, rivers, wetlands, or biodiversity? Our economic growth agendas of today risk playing dice with poverty reduction and prosperity if water risks continue to go unrecognised, argues Mark Smith, director of the IUCN Global Water Programme.

Can you manage what you don’t measure?  Produce such as coffee, cotton, and oil are traded commodities that are measured, managed, negotiated and priced based on market supply and demand.  Yet, what happens when measuring things of great value that are more nuanced, more complex, not commodities, not privately owned and not traded in markets,  such as rainfall, rivers, wetlands, or biodiversity? 

Our economic growth agendas of today risk playing dice with poverty reduction and prosperity if water risks continue to go unrecognised, argues Mark Smith, director of the IUCN Global Water Programme. Can you manage what you don’t measure?  Produce such as coffee, cotton, and oil are traded commodities that are measured, managed, negotiated and priced based on market supply and demand.  Yet, what happens when measuring things of great value that are more nuanced, more complex, not commodities, not privately owned and not traded in markets,  such as rainfall, rivers, wetlands, or biodiversity?

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) is a global initiative set up in 2007 that focuses on making nature’s values visible. As Professor Edward Barbier (a member of TEEBs Advisory Board) puts it, “we use nature because it is valuable, we lose nature because it is free”. Adam Smith’s diamond-water paradox, differentiating value and price, states that water is considerably more valuable than diamonds, yet diamonds command a much higher price. This resonates with more people than ever before.  Daily news on floods and droughts, and the loss of services we receive from ecosystems is concerning.  Securing Water, Sustaining Growth, a report from the Global Water Partnership/OECD Task Force on Water Security and Sustainable Growth, highlights that floods, droughts and a lack of investment in providing high-quality, reliable water supplies is dragging down the global economy. For more information click here