Climate change, population growth, and unsustainable development are reshaping the very foundation of life itself: water. While rivers run dry, wetlands vanish, and rainfall patterns grow unpredictable, global systems continue to treat water as an infinite commodity rather than as the fragile cycle that sustains every species and economy. In South Asia, this contradiction is lived daily. Cities like Delhi and Chennai alternate between waterlogging and “Day Zero” warnings, while rural communities in Bihar or Bundelkhand still depend on uncertain monsoons for survival. As a young researcher and citizen of South Asia, I cannot ignore how these contradictions play out in our daily lives. The imbalance between abundance and scarcity is not abstract – it shapes how we live, plan, and hope for the future. At World Water Week 2025, the Global Commission on the Economics of Water brought forward a simple yet transformative idea: water must be governed as a global common good.
But what does this really mean? And how can societies rethink economics, politics, and governance around something as fluid and interconnected as the water cycle?

Valuing the Invisible:
Water is often only noticed when it is scarce, polluted, or unevenly distributed. Yet much of it – rainfall, soil moisture, groundwater recharge – is invisible to the eye. It is this hidden “green water” that supports food systems, forests, and ecosystems, alongside the “blue water” of rivers, lakes, and aquifers.

Mark Smith, Director General of the IWMI, urged that revaluing water requires humility. Governance, he reminded, is not about controlling a single reservoir or river, but about understanding the water cycle as a whole. “The water cycle must be governed as a global common good,” he said, underscoring that both green and blue water must be part of economic and governance frameworks.
In South Asia, where monsoon-dependent “green water” underpins agriculture and livelihoods, this framing is particularly urgent. For young professionals in the region, especially women, understanding these interconnections provides a foundation to develop inclusive and climate-resilient water policies.

The Cost of Inaction
Ignoring water challenges has its own price. Economic losses from floods, droughts, and water scarcity already reach billions each year, but the social costs are far greater: children missing school because of long walks to fetch water, communities facing health crises from unsafe supplies, and farmers losing crops to erratic rainfall. Beyond Pakistan’s devastating floods in past years, the reality continues today. During the monsoon of 2025, Punjab experienced catastrophic flooding: more than 2 million people were displaced, 8,400 villages were submerged, and over 1 million acres of farmland were inundated, as the Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej rivers overflowed their banks. Such events remind us that the cost of inaction is not theoretical; it is borne daily by millions of vulnerable people. In Assam, annual floods are no longer considered disasters but a season to “cope with,” forcing families into cycles of rebuilding and loss. In contrast, parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka suffer from prolonged droughts, leaving farmers in debt or despair. These contrasting realities show that the cost of inaction in our region is not only financial but also psychological and social – undermining trust in governance and leaving communities in a constant state of uncertainty.

Pedro Arrojo Agudo, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation, warned against underestimating these costs. “We must assess the cost of inaction – financial, human, and ecological – and we must define what action looks like,” he said. For Arrojo, water is not just an economic input but a human right. Large investments in safe and equitable access, he stressed, are essential to prevent rising inequality and widespread injustice.
The question raised was clear: If the cost of doing nothing is so high, why do we still delay action?

One Earth System
Human activities are now reshaping the water cycle itself. Deforestation alters rainfall, soil degradation reduces infiltration, and urban expansion increases floods. From my own field experiences, I have seen how even small interventions, like the cutting of trees in Delhi’s ridge or the filling of wetlands in Kolkata, ripple outward, altering water flows and microclimates. These may seem like local issues, but for those of us living in these cities, they are daily reminders that the ‘one Earth system’ is not abstract; it is unfolding on our doorsteps. Agriculture, trade, and industry all shift “virtual water” across regions, sometimes from water-rich to water-scarce areas, creating new vulnerabilities.

Maarten Gischler of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained how land use, rainfall, and ecosystems are all part of a single loop. “We govern from local to global – but the reality is one Earth system,” he said. Linking water governance to the IPCC’s work on adaptation and vulnerability, he emphasized that decisions about agriculture, biodiversity, and trade cannot be separated from the economics of water.

For South Asia’s shared river basins, such as the Indus, the Brahmaputra, the Meghna, this “one system” perspective highlights the need for cross-border youth networks, joint monitoring, and data-sharing – roles that young professionals are uniquely positioned to champion.

Nature as Infrastructure
Amid calls for technological solutions, a strong reminder came from Flore Lafaye de Micheaux of the Convention on Wetlands: nature itself is the most reliable infrastructure. “We cannot stabilize the water cycle without wetlands,” she said.

Wetlands, forests, and soils regulate flows, reduce risks, and store water. In South Asia, this disappearance is visible everywhere. The East Calcutta Wetlands, once celebrated as a natural sewage treatment system, are shrinking under real estate pressure. In Srinagar, Dal Lake has been reduced to a shadow of its past due to encroachment and pollution. As youth, watching these losses feels personal – we are inheriting not the protection of nature, but the debt of negligence, and we also inherit the responsibility to change this trajectory. Yet they are disappearing faster than they are being restored. Protecting them is not only an ecological responsibility but also smart economics. Without them, resilience crumbles; with them, societies gain a natural buffer against floods, droughts, and climate extremes.

Young water leaders in South Asia are piloting nature-based solutions in flood-prone and drought-prone areas, linking ecosystem restoration with women’s leadership and local knowledge.

Accountability and Responsibility
The private sector’s role was also spotlighted. It was emphasized that companies dependent on water cannot afford silence or secrecy. “If you depend on water, you must disclose your risks and impacts – and reduce them,” one speaker noted.

Accountability means going beyond slogans. It requires transparency, genuine risk reduction, and embedding water stewardship into supply chains. The future of business, as Kirsten James of Ceres argued, lies not in extraction but in shared responsibility.
This creates opportunities for youth-led accountability mechanisms, such as citizen monitoring and open-data platforms, which are emerging in South Asia to track water risks, pollution, and corporate impacts.

Financing Resilience
Resilience does not come free. Yet the paradox is that while disasters drain billions in recovery costs, preventive investment in water systems remains underfunded. The Commission argued for a financial rethink: moving resources toward forecast-based financing, early-warning systems, and nature-based solutions.

This is not charity, it is long-term economic sense. As one participant warned, “We are underfinancing the very systems that save lives.” By reframing water security as an investment rather than an expense, resilience becomes not only feasible but profitable for societies and economies alike.

Inclusivity as Action
Inclusivity was another principle. Governance of water cannot succeed if it excludes women, youth, Indigenous communities, or those most vulnerable to scarcity and pollution. For South Asian youth, the challenge is twofold: we are often invited to global forums but rarely given a seat at decision-making tables at home. I have sat in community meetings where farmers and women spoke with clarity about water needs, yet their voices were sidelined by technical experts – a silence that speaks volumes. True inclusivity must bridge this gap, ensuring that those who live with the consequences of water crises are also shaping the solutions. Too often, inclusivity is used as a slogan rather than a practice.
Youth-led efforts show what inclusion can look like in practice. In India, WaterAid’s Jal Champions programme has mobilised over 21,000 young people in schools and communities to advocate for safe water and sustainable use. During Jal Pakhwada 2025, more than 100,000 individuals took a water pledge in a single day, guided by 13,000 youth leaders. In Bihar’s Vaishali district alone, one young volunteer organised pledges across 900 schools, proving that structural inclusion is possible when youth voices are empowered.

The Commission stressed that true inclusion is structural: ensuring marginalized groups are part of decision-making, benefit from solutions, and are not displaced by projects. It is also about equity, recognizing that water is not simply an economic input, but a human right tied to dignity, health, and cultural identity.

Reflections and Missions
Closing the session, Henk Ovink, Executive Director of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, offered a longer horizon. He framed governance not as a list of tasks, but as a mission-oriented process: “Don’t just resolve an issue – embark on a mission for the long term.”

Ovink emphasized the need for persistence and partnership, reminding the audience that small actions can create larger transformations. Like a ripple effect, local initiatives can spread outward, influencing regional and global systems if they are sustained and connected. Collaboration, he argued, turns those ripples into waves strong enough to reshape the economics of water.

In South Asia, empowering young professionals, particularly women, through leadership accelerators and cross-border exchanges can create the very ripples that grow into waves of cooperation and resilience across shared river basins.

Looking Forward
The session made it clear that governing water as a global common good is no longer a distant ambition; it is an urgent necessity. The insights shared reminded us that water is more than an economic input; it is a human right, an ecological lifeline, and the thread that connects all communities and ecosystems.

Protecting it wisely means looking beyond short-term gains and fragmented management. For South Asia, looking forward must mean preparing for extreme floods and droughts in the same year, urban waterlogging alongside rural scarcity. But it also means recognizing the agency of youth. If empowered, we can drive local innovations, whether through community-led wetland restoration, school-based water literacy programs, or digital monitoring of water quality – that connect global ambitions with local realities. It calls for humility in how we value water, boldness in how we finance resilience, and inclusivity in how we govern it. Above all, it demands a collective mission, one that transforms today’s ripples of action into waves strong enough to safeguard the foundation of life itself.