Nature Unheard: Why clean water matters

How much is clean water really worth, and why do we only seem to notice it when there’s too much of it, or none at all?

In this episode of Nature Unheard, the EBRD podcast exploring where nature, climate and the economy intersect, our hosts Adonai Herrera-Martinez and Emma Bentley turn the spotlight on one of our most precious resources: freshwater.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube. 

The episode features insights from leading water experts, including Professor of Environmental Health Risks at the University of Oxford, Katrina Charles, and Dr Saskia Nowicki, Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford, who reflect on the ecological and health impacts of polluted rivers. 

Katrina explains why freshwater is so easily taken for granted, despite making up only a tiny fraction of the planet’s water, and unpacks the less visible challenges of delivering safe drinking water – from infrastructure and maintenance to governance, financing and monitoring. Whether it’s the water we drink, the rivers we swim in or the ecosystems we depend on, this episode explores what it really takes to protect freshwater in a changing climate – and what’s at stake if we don’t.

This episode is supported by Czechia, Switzerland and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

It was produced by Olga Aristeidou and Cecilia Calatrava.