Rethinking responses to the world’s water crises

R. Quentin Grafton (), Safa Fanaian, James Horne, Pamela Katic, Nhat-Mai Nguyen, Claudia Ringler, Libby Robin, Julia Talbot-Jones, Sarah Ann Wheeler, Paul Robert Wyrwoll, Fabiola Avarado, Asit K. Biswas, Edoardo Borgomeo, Roy Brouwer, Peter Coombes, Robert Costanza, Robert Hope, Tom Kompas, Ida Kubiszewski, Ana Manero, Rita Martins, Rachael McDonnell, William Nikolakis, Russell Rollason, Nadeem Samnakay, Bridget R. Scanlon, Jesper Svensson, Djiby Thiam, Cecilia Tortajada, Yahua Wang and John Williams
Additional contact information
R. Quentin Grafton: Australian National University
Safa Fanaian: Australian National University
James Horne: James Horne and Associates
Pamela Katic: University of Greenwich
Nhat-Mai Nguyen: Australian National University
Claudia Ringler: International Food Policy Research Institute
Libby Robin: Australian National University
Julia Talbot-Jones: Victoria University of Wellington
Sarah Ann Wheeler: Flinders University
Paul Robert Wyrwoll: Australian National University
Fabiola Avarado: University of Oxford
Asit K. Biswas: University of Glasgow
Edoardo Borgomeo: University of Cambridge
Roy Brouwer: University of Waterloo
Peter Coombes: Australian National University
Robert Costanza: University College London
Robert Hope: University of Oxford
Tom Kompas: University of Melbourne
Ida Kubiszewski: University College London
Ana Manero: Australian National University
Rita Martins: University of Coimbra
Rachael McDonnell: International Water Management Institute
William Nikolakis: University of British Columbia
Russell Rollason: University of Melbourne
Nadeem Samnakay: Australian National University
Bridget R. Scanlon: University of Texas at Austin
Jesper Svensson: Lund University
Djiby Thiam: University of Cape Town
Cecilia Tortajada: University of Glasgow
Yahua Wang: Tsinghua University
John Williams: Australian National University

Nature Sustainability, 2025, vol. 8, issue 1, 11-21

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01470-z

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