By channelling the talents and abilities of your academic community your are promoting a greater understanding of our environment in the community at large. By showing how disciplines from biology and business, to economics and political science can address environmental issues you help people appreciate the true nature of sustainable development. You reinforce a the growing sense among citizens of all kinds that the state of our environment is inseparable from the health of citizens, the strength of the economy, and the overall success of a society. Water Talking today about water is one of the best focal points for understanding the links in sustainable development. So, I want to say a special thanks to Quentin Grafton, Director of this Institute, and his research associates on this timely symposium on water.
Water is timely for a number of reasons.
In two days, it will be the World Day for Water. The UN General Assembly designated World Day for Water as an opportunity to address the problems relating to drinking water supply. It is a chance to increase awareness of the need for conservation and protection of water resources. But this event is also timely because of two recent reports that show the global priority that water has become. The first was the report of the World Commission on Water, released a week ago today.