As part of the European Union's Green Week event in Brussels, Euronews science correspondent Jeremy Wilks quizzed experts about water pollution, droughts, and floods and asked when we will wise up about water.
ADVERTISEMENTNow more than ever, water is on everyone's minds.
Whether it’s pollution, floods, droughts or climate change, there are myriad issues around H2O causing concern for many of us.
Enter our upcoming live Euronews Water Resilience Debate, where we’ll be asking how exactly we can all wise up about water.
Presented from the European Union's Green Week event in Brussels, with our science correspondent Jeremy Wilks at the helm, we’ll be putting questions from the audience to a panel of three experts.
We’ll be debating issues including water quality in urban areas, tensions with agriculture and industry, recycling, regeneration and desalination of water, nature-based solutions for rivers and waterways - as well as the security of supply for every European.
Kicking off at 10am CET on 29 May, here’s everything you need to know ahead of the event - and how you too can get informed about one of the most pressing issues we’re currently facing.
Meet our Water Resilience expert panel
Dr. Florika Fink-Hooijer is the Director-General of the Environment Department of the European Commission, having been appointed after occupying a number of senior management positions in the organisation.
A lawyer by training, Florika is recognised for her strong management and leadership skills and her in-depth experience in EU policy-making & shaping.
Her expertise lies in foreign external and security policy as well as in humanitarian aid and disaster risk reduction.
Florika also has extensive experience in leading complex inter-institutional and intergovernmental negotiations. In her current role, she is responsible for implementing the European Green Deal objectives - specifically in the crucial areas of Circular Economy, Biodiversity and Zero Pollution.
Joining her on the panel is Henk Ovink.
He’s the Executive Director and founding Commissioner for the Global Commission on the Economics of Water.
That Commission, set up in May 2022, was initiated by the Netherlands Government with the goal to transform the world’s understanding of the economics and governance of water.
It’s also placing a much stronger emphasis on equity, justice, effectiveness and democracy than its policy predecessors, the 2006 Stern Review on the economics of climate change and the 2021 Dasgupta Review on the economics of biodiversity.
Henk himself is a leading expert on our topic, having acted as the first ever Global Water Ambassador for over 8 years.
As part of this role, he co-led the second UN Water Conference in 2023, which brought together more than 10,000 people from every continent, background and profession.
At that event, Henk was instrumental in getting the world community to commit to over 800 actions with the aim of solidifying a water secure world for all.
Trusted by former president Obama to work on the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force in 2013, Henk was also awarded the Foreign Affairs Decoration of Honour in Gold, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for his unique and outstanding water diplomacy work and leadership.
ADVERTISEMENTAnswering questions alongside him will be Arnaud Valleteau de Moulliac. He is the CEO of Veolia Water Technologies, a €1.65 billion water treatment subsidiary of Veolia group, based in France.
Arnaud joined the group in 2003 and has since held various positions ranging from business development to operations and general management.
With decades of experience, he’s a graduate from École Polytechnique and HEC in Paris - and passionate about driving ecological transformation across Europe.
Here’s everything our panel will be discussing at the event
In the modern world, water resilience is no longer merely a political issue - instead, it is a concern for everybody.
While the future of water might sometimes seem hopeless, many politicians in the EU - and across the globe - are increasingly putting their weight behind the issue together with industry.
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It’s becoming ever clearer that nature is part of the solution and, with that in mind, we’ll be starting off the debate with the multifaceted issue of water pollution and the knock-on health aspects.
We'll discuss a ban on PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals, we'll tackle how to clean up urban areas and improve water treatment.
We’ll also be debating the relevance of nature-based solutions to soften the blow from drought and floods, with discussions ranging from helping re-start the water cycle to the pertinence of energy-heavy solutions like desalination.
The varied and competing uses of water is a hot topic right now, with agriculture, industry and domestic users battling it out. We’ll be taking a look at that issue, as well as the nuances around water and security.
Throughout the debate, the constant threat of climate change and the role of business in water will be hot topics, too.
ADVERTISEMENTAs an open discussion, we’ll be taking questions from audience members, who come from both ordinary backgrounds and roles within the world of water.
Expect questions - and answers - to some of the most discussed topics across Europe on water issues.
Have you ever thought about who exactly plans and ensures the cross-border cooperation for provision of firefighting water or why cities - think Paris ahead of the Olympics - seem to need a particular impetus before they start investing ambitiously in water quality and flood prevention?
Those questions will be on our agenda, alongside whether the EU can back up its claims that it’s a champion of sustainable solutions, if it can achieve its climate targets by 2030 and if rivers, seas and oceans need to be given specific legal status to ensure this policy’s success.
Tune in to get all the answers you’re after on Wednesday, 29 May at 10am CET here.
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