Lifeng Li
Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)

"In the last 3 or 4 years, clearly the awareness about water and the connections with other things has been better understood. It’s not just rivers and lakes but also water and food, energy and many other issues. To me I think this has been a very positive change. Even a few years ago, discussion of water and ecosystems and sustainability was very little. Recognition of how the private sector can be part of this is new. Seven years ago, there was very little – just a few people from the companies showing up, mainly to provide philanthropic support to World Water Week. Now water stewardship, how companies can really do something about water issues, has really become mainstream.

We [WWF] have been helping various stakeholders to understand water stewardship and how they can get involved, and bringing ecosystems into the discussion – nature for water, water for nature. We also push water governance issues.

My hope for the future is that awareness of water and the link between water and development, alongside ecosystems must be mainstreamed in the future. It’s water for life, but also water for economy, for society. We can’t separate the different agendas."