[Music]
few years ago a young Israeli family
from a kibbutz in the Negev relocated to
California the Negev is a desert it is
hot it is dry it is tough it is not the
easiest place to live in after a few
days in California the little girl came
back from school informing her parents
that she learned a new song the parents
knew long ago that the child is a genius
but now they got the actual proof only a
few days in United States and the girl
is fluent in English and they ask little
Einstein to sing the song and she did
and the song is rain rain go away come
again another day there was silence in
the room the parents were in shock they
were very proud with their little girl
but at the same time they could not
believe anyone would tell the rain to go
away bear in mind those are people that
grew up in the desert telling a rain to
go away is a sin it’s a crime it’s
unheard of I heard this story from the
father a friend of mine we used to work
for one of the Israeli water companies
and I found it amusing and funny and
then asked about the Israeli water
children’s songs and they all have the
same message feel free to sing along
and are plenty of other songs but they
all have the same messages we either
express joy and happiness with the fact
that the rain is here or begging the
rain to come back and water the flowers
and trees bottom line you never tell the
rain to go away Israelis like very much
to travel abroad and when they come back
they would usually comment on the amount
of water that they sought during their
trip and it is always said in a tone of
admiration and jealousy so people would
say we hiked in the Millea we did
rafting in the Grand Canyon bungy
jumping in Thailand it was very
beautiful and then you hear the
inevitable comment and there is so much
water there and it comes with a little
moan at the end kind of this is not fair
God didn’t do a proper job distributing
this important resource but what can we
do we have to make up with what we got
making up with what we got
this is L’Amour my beloved life partner
when it comes to water l’amour is an
extremist she is fully committed to
water saving whenever we wash fruits and
vegetables l’amour would put a pot
underneath collect the water and then
irrigate the garden my dear I have a
confession sometimes when you are not in
the kitchen I cheat
and I do not collect the water but other
than that I’m a good guy I drink tap
water I close the tap when I brush my
teeth I use half the amount of water in
the toilet when I can I get at night to
avoid the reparation I told you a good
guy now why is it so important the
amount of water that l’amour is saving
is insignificant the children’s songs
are cute a nice nevertheless they don’t
save water on their own but these acts
these songs reflect a culture a culture
of a water saving society when people
share the same values and act
accordingly when you have children songs
that deliver a message when you have
extremists likely more but also the
average Joe is knowledgeable and aware
then you are on the right track some
people are lucky to have their work and
values aligned I am one of those lucky
guys I have a great job I know it’s not
common to hear it from a public servant
governments are not accustomed to happy
employees and they don’t really know
what to do with them
I deal with water issues from different
point of views and angles and my mission
is to make a change a very neat part of
my job is the fact that it requires
traveling quite often to different parts
of the world meeting and speaking with
opinion leaders politicians companies
water utilities vistors International
and financial organizations all players
in the global water arena so this is the
nice part the part which is not so nice
is the fact that the global water
picture is scary
two months ago I visited Brazil staying
in Brasilia the capital of the country
I learned the due to water shortage
there is a rotation between
neighborhoods in the city and each
neighborhood one day a week doesn’t get
water and this is not only in Brasilia
many cities around the world in Africa
in the Middle East India China are
facing similar situation recently even
Rome in Italy has difficulties meeting
water demand when I meet with CEOs of
large multinationals I always ask them
what is your strategy to water as a
business sector and I get a lot of
different interesting answers but they
all complain over the fact that the
business models are not right one of the
most interesting and depressing answer
was from one of the biggest companies in
the world and they said they are waiting
for the situation to get worse not that
they wish for that but they think it is
inevitable and then when the situation
is desperate they will move in
Water pricing is at the heart of the
discussion about the business models it
is a very delicate sensitive topic water
is God’s gift to mankind it’s a phrase
that I hear very often when I travel
around in the world and it captures very
accurately the way we perceive water as
a gift and a gift is something that do
not pay for it is free and you use it as
you please this perception is a big
obstacle it undermines our ability to
create a functional sustainable water
system water should cost money all type
of water to all type of consumes the
water contamination tragedy in Flint
Michigan took many lives it showed us
that managing water issues properly is a
global challenge it should concern every
person on earth the situation in the dry
countries in the u.s. Nevada Arizona
California calls for immediate action
necessity is the mother of innovation is
correct when mankind is under pressure
people are creative and they find ways
to overcome difficulties and challenges
but there is another side to the same
coin when we do not perceive the
situation as a necessity then the right
terminology to describe our mindset is
if it ain’t broken don’t fix it means
don’t bother us don’t bother us with
those ideas concepts technologies we
like things the way they are we want to
stick to
business as usual but the big problem is
that the global water system is already
broken and we ignore it this is the big
elephant in the room we need to talk
about it we need to discuss it and we
need to come up with solutions the
United Nation the OECD the World
Economic Forum International Water
Association all clearly indicates if we
continue managing water the way we do in
20 years 66 percent of humanity is going
to suffer from severe water shortage
already at present the situation is
alarming on average 25 percent of our
urban water is lost before we use it due
to poor maintenance an old
infrastructure and this is the average
some cities around the world reach 60
and even 70% of water loss in the
developing world only 10% of wastewater
is being treated which means that vast
majority of wastewater goes back to
nature untreated contaminating
everything on its way the global water
system must be fixed but for no good
reason we think that somehow this
problem would go away that next year
we’re going to have a lot of rain that
somehow the aquifer will be restored
flowers and butterflies everywhere and
we are going to live happily ever after
so this is not the right approach
fairytales are not going to correct the
situation
technological solutions exist efficient
irrigation smart urban water management
system wastewater treatment facilities
and reuse cost-effective desalination
and much more
moreover technology keeps improving all
the time
usage of big data sophisticated
algorithm nanotechnology all bring us to
the conclusion technology is not the
barrier what are the barriers lack of
awareness lack of sustainable business
models lack of relevant pricing policy
lack of clear legal frameworks and
abundance of conservativeness those are
the barriers we need a revolution we
need a deep revolution we need a
revolution that will move simultaneously
top-down and bottom-up we need people
and public opinion to push politicians
and political leaders we need those
leaders to become real leaders embrace
the change and understand that business
as usual is not an option are we going
to do it with children’s songs well this
is not enough but this is a crucial
point to begin with this is the way
society can change and I am 100% sure
that without a solid base an outcome of
a cultural change and a mind shift we
will not be able to move forward so yes
this is a very important topic
what kind of children’s songs do you
remember from your childhood what kind
of children’s songs do your children
sing today and I’ll tell you this we
need joyful children songs in every
language in the world this is a good
start for a positive revolution thank
you
[Applause]
few years ago a young Israeli family
from a kibbutz in the Negev relocated to
California the Negev is a desert it is
hot it is dry it is tough it is not the
easiest place to live in after a few
days in California the little girl came
back from school informing her parents
that she learned a new song the parents
knew long ago that the child is a genius
but now they got the actual proof only a
few days in United States and the girl
is fluent in English and they ask little
Einstein to sing the song and she did
and the song is rain rain go away come
again another day there was silence in
the room the parents were in shock they
were very proud with their little girl
but at the same time they could not
believe anyone would tell the rain to go
away bear in mind those are people that
grew up in the desert telling a rain to
go away is a sin it’s a crime it’s
unheard of I heard this story from the
father a friend of mine we used to work
for one of the Israeli water companies
and I found it amusing and funny and
then asked about the Israeli water
children’s songs and they all have the
same message feel free to sing along
and are plenty of other songs but they
all have the same messages we either
express joy and happiness with the fact
that the rain is here or begging the
rain to come back and water the flowers
and trees bottom line you never tell the
rain to go away Israelis like very much
to travel abroad and when they come back
they would usually comment on the amount
of water that they sought during their
trip and it is always said in a tone of
admiration and jealousy so people would
say we hiked in the Millea we did
rafting in the Grand Canyon bungy
jumping in Thailand it was very
beautiful and then you hear the
inevitable comment and there is so much
water there and it comes with a little
moan at the end kind of this is not fair
God didn’t do a proper job distributing
this important resource but what can we
do we have to make up with what we got
making up with what we got
this is L’Amour my beloved life partner
when it comes to water l’amour is an
extremist she is fully committed to
water saving whenever we wash fruits and
vegetables l’amour would put a pot
underneath collect the water and then
irrigate the garden my dear I have a
confession sometimes when you are not in
the kitchen I cheat
and I do not collect the water but other
than that I’m a good guy I drink tap
water I close the tap when I brush my
teeth I use half the amount of water in
the toilet when I can I get at night to
avoid the reparation I told you a good
guy now why is it so important the
amount of water that l’amour is saving
is insignificant the children’s songs
are cute a nice nevertheless they don’t
save water on their own but these acts
these songs reflect a culture a culture
of a water saving society when people
share the same values and act
accordingly when you have children songs
that deliver a message when you have
extremists likely more but also the
average Joe is knowledgeable and aware
then you are on the right track some
people are lucky to have their work and
values aligned I am one of those lucky
guys I have a great job I know it’s not
common to hear it from a public servant
governments are not accustomed to happy
employees and they don’t really know
what to do with them
I deal with water issues from different
point of views and angles and my mission
is to make a change a very neat part of
my job is the fact that it requires
traveling quite often to different parts
of the world meeting and speaking with
opinion leaders politicians companies
water utilities vistors International
and financial organizations all players
in the global water arena so this is the
nice part the part which is not so nice
is the fact that the global water
picture is scary
two months ago I visited Brazil staying
in Brasilia the capital of the country
I learned the due to water shortage
there is a rotation between
neighborhoods in the city and each
neighborhood one day a week doesn’t get
water and this is not only in Brasilia
many cities around the world in Africa
in the Middle East India China are
facing similar situation recently even
Rome in Italy has difficulties meeting
water demand when I meet with CEOs of
large multinationals I always ask them
what is your strategy to water as a
business sector and I get a lot of
different interesting answers but they
all complain over the fact that the
business models are not right one of the
most interesting and depressing answer
was from one of the biggest companies in
the world and they said they are waiting
for the situation to get worse not that
they wish for that but they think it is
inevitable and then when the situation
is desperate they will move in
Water pricing is at the heart of the
discussion about the business models it
is a very delicate sensitive topic water
is God’s gift to mankind it’s a phrase
that I hear very often when I travel
around in the world and it captures very
accurately the way we perceive water as
a gift and a gift is something that do
not pay for it is free and you use it as
you please this perception is a big
obstacle it undermines our ability to
create a functional sustainable water
system water should cost money all type
of water to all type of consumes the
water contamination tragedy in Flint
Michigan took many lives it showed us
that managing water issues properly is a
global challenge it should concern every
person on earth the situation in the dry
countries in the u.s. Nevada Arizona
California calls for immediate action
necessity is the mother of innovation is
correct when mankind is under pressure
people are creative and they find ways
to overcome difficulties and challenges
but there is another side to the same
coin when we do not perceive the
situation as a necessity then the right
terminology to describe our mindset is
if it ain’t broken don’t fix it means
don’t bother us don’t bother us with
those ideas concepts technologies we
like things the way they are we want to
stick to
business as usual but the big problem is
that the global water system is already
broken and we ignore it this is the big
elephant in the room we need to talk
about it we need to discuss it and we
need to come up with solutions the
United Nation the OECD the World
Economic Forum International Water
Association all clearly indicates if we
continue managing water the way we do in
20 years 66 percent of humanity is going
to suffer from severe water shortage
already at present the situation is
alarming on average 25 percent of our
urban water is lost before we use it due
to poor maintenance an old
infrastructure and this is the average
some cities around the world reach 60
and even 70% of water loss in the
developing world only 10% of wastewater
is being treated which means that vast
majority of wastewater goes back to
nature untreated contaminating
everything on its way the global water
system must be fixed but for no good
reason we think that somehow this
problem would go away that next year
we’re going to have a lot of rain that
somehow the aquifer will be restored
flowers and butterflies everywhere and
we are going to live happily ever after
so this is not the right approach
fairytales are not going to correct the
situation
technological solutions exist efficient
irrigation smart urban water management
system wastewater treatment facilities
and reuse cost-effective desalination
and much more
moreover technology keeps improving all
the time
usage of big data sophisticated
algorithm nanotechnology all bring us to
the conclusion technology is not the
barrier what are the barriers lack of
awareness lack of sustainable business
models lack of relevant pricing policy
lack of clear legal frameworks and
abundance of conservativeness those are
the barriers we need a revolution we
need a deep revolution we need a
revolution that will move simultaneously
top-down and bottom-up we need people
and public opinion to push politicians
and political leaders we need those
leaders to become real leaders embrace
the change and understand that business
as usual is not an option are we going
to do it with children’s songs well this
is not enough but this is a crucial
point to begin with this is the way
society can change and I am 100% sure
that without a solid base an outcome of
a cultural change and a mind shift we
will not be able to move forward so yes
this is a very important topic
what kind of children’s songs do you
remember from your childhood what kind
of children’s songs do your children
sing today and I’ll tell you this we
need joyful children songs in every
language in the world this is a good
start for a positive revolution thank
you
[Applause]
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