Institute of Water Policy hosts first BBC World Debate on Water

06 July 2010

The Institute of Water Policy at NUS' Lee Kuan Yew School Public Policy (LKYSPP) played host to BBC World News' The World Debate Series on 30 June 2010, where a distinguished panel of international intellectuals and policymakers were in Singapore to discuss the question "Are We Running Out of Water?" and take questions from the audience.

The experts on the panel were President of AQUAFED Mr Gerard Payen; United Nations Special Ambassador for Millennium Development Goals in the Asia Pacific and former Indonesian Minister of Human Settlements and Regional Development Erna Witoelar; Chairman of PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, Tan Gee Paw; Distinguished Visiting Professor at LKYSPP and President of the Third World Centre for Water Management Asit Biswas; and Israeli Director of the Friends of the Earth Middle East Gidon Bromberg.

The panellists discussed a range of water-related questions that were crucial to Asia and the world's future, such as "Is there really a global water shortage, or are supplies adequate but just badly managed?", "Are business and government part of the problem or solution?", "If we fail to manage global water supplies what might the consequences for the World be – especially for the one billion people without a clean water supply?"

The World Debate on water, held at the Raffles City Convention Centre, was moderated by BBC World News presenter Nik Gowing and recorded in front of a live audience of high-level delegates who were in Singapore also to attend the Singapore International Water Week and the World Cities Summit. The programme broadcasts worldwide on BBC World News on 17 July 2010 at 5:10pm, and 18 July 2010 at 10:10am and 11:10pm (Singapore time).