Intelligence Squared Can Water Shape Our Future?
30 snips
Feb 4, 2026 
Vera Klotchin, Climate and Environment Lead at WaterAid, brings on-the-ground experience building resilient water systems. Helen Rumford, Lead Policy Analyst at WaterAid, focuses on inclusive climate policy and water justice. They discuss how water underpins health, economies and ecosystems. They explore climate impacts on the water cycle, local leadership and financing, policy gaps, and nature-based adaptation.
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The Climate Crisis Is A Water Crisis
- The climate crisis is fundamentally a water crisis that disrupts the whole water cycle.
- Droughts, floods, storms and glacial melt intensify and directly threaten water supplies and services.
Utility Ran Dry In Kenyan Drought
- Vera recounts working with a Kenyan utility that completely ran out of water during a prolonged drought.
- Hospitals, schools and businesses were left without water because disaster plans arrived too late.
Water Falls Between Policy Gaps
- Water services often fall between government and sectoral cracks because many actors focus on single users.
- A holistic, system-wide approach that brings all stakeholders together creates long-term, flexible resilience.