There’s a reason that whenever humans go searching on other planets, the first thing we look for is water. And it’s not just for the reasons everyone thinks. First, from a biological perspective, life began with water on Earth, so we assume that’s where life would begin elsewhere. Second, from a practical perspective, water signals habitability: if it’s there, we can survive using technology to clean and use it. And third, water shapes planets — it erodes, moves minerals, and points to resources that could support colonization or reveal what a planet is made of.”
In the latest episode of Distilled, host Will Sarni, Practice Lead, Water and Nature at Earth Finance, sits down with a new guest to discuss the global water crisis, the challenges and opportunities shaping the sector, and their personal journey navigating water issues around the world.
James Dalton, Director of IUCN‘s Global Water Programme, joined Will to explore the intersections of water, policy, and stewardship — and why ambition and collaboration are key to solving the world’s water challenges. Kicking off the discussion, Will asked James what first got him hooked on water.
Watch the full video episode below or keep reading for the write-up.
James on how he got hooked on water
At 19, James left the UK for Israel to work in irrigated agriculture. He wasn’t just fascinated by the irrigation systems themselves, but by the politics wrapped around them: the way water shaped opportunity, power, and peace.
What got me hooked was seeing how people dealt with water — the differences, the politics, the technical challenges, the opportunities. I was working on modern irrigation and fertilization systems for export crops, but what really struck me were the broader political strategies employed by Israel. It was fascinating to see how politics shaped every decision.”
The experience left him determined to dedicate his career to water. But breaking in wasn’t easy. Long before LinkedIn or email, James went about it the old-fashioned way: writing hundreds of letters to consultancies, advisors, and companies.
Most letters went unanswered. But a few replies came back, and with them, the first seeds of a growing network. He explained how every unanswered letter made him write and send two more. This persistence became one of his defining traits throughout his career.
Mentors and further study opened the next door for James. He began his career at ITAD before joining the UK Department for International Development’s water division as an advisor. From there, he moved to Fiji in 2006 to work for the Pacific Islands Geoscience Commission on Water Resource Management, and eventually to Switzerland, where he now leads IUCN’s Global Water Programme.
Although he believes that his career trajectory was the result of “pure luck and pure fluke”, what drove him was a simple truth: water is never just a technical issue, never just a policy issue. It is both, and it connects to everything else.
My aim back then was always to have a foot in both (technical and policy) camps so I could both understand how to affect change and what was technically feasible. If you only pursue a topic from one side, it becomes very difficult to balance those out.”
Coming from an engineering and academic background, James quickly realized that technical expertise alone wasn’t enough. Those who focused purely on policy often lacked an understanding of what was technically and economically feasible, while engineers sometimes ignored the political realities that shaped outcomes. To James, the only way forward was to bridge the gap.
James on the disconnect in water
For James, water is more than just a resource — it’s the foundation of life, society, and even the search for life on other planets. He pointed out that water is the first sign scientists look for, because life as we know it begins there. But here on Earth, most people are surprisingly disconnected from its value.
In cities (where over half of the global population now lives), people focus on what comes out of the tap, rather than the system that delivers it or the ecosystems and communities it passes through along the way.
We’ve got a growing global population, with over half of people now living in urban environments. They’re disconnected from the system that provides the water or where their waste goes, which means that we don’t value it in the same way. What we value is what comes out of the pipe; we don’t value how it’s treated and managed to get to us, or who else or what else might need it along the way.”
What’s missing, he explained, is a more tangible connection. Land and forests are easy for people to recognize and value because they are visible, static resources. Water, by contrast, is elusive. It rains or it doesn’t, it flows underground, or appears only seasonally. At times it is abundant, at others scarce or even destructive. That unpredictability makes it harder to understand and easier to take for granted.
Through engineering and management, we’ve controlled water to the point that we’ve disconnected ourselves from its complexities. Now we’re really experiencing them — realizing just how important water is, how much competition there is for it, and how it drives our climate. As we interfere with that system, we’re facing challenges of water not being where we thought it would be, or not arriving in the same way.”
But James is quick to stress that reconnecting people with water doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes the simplest interventions can shift perspectives. At the AWS Global Water Stewardship Forum, for example, he was introduced to drain covers that were designed to show residents exactly where their water flowed and what happened to the waste to help people see the link between everyday actions and the broader water cycle.
James on the need for higher ambitions and better ideas
The biggest challenge for the water sector isn’t a lack of awareness but a lack of urgency. Progress is happening, but not at the speed or scale the crisis demands, James explained.
Ambition levels need to be higher. They need to be working faster. We keep hearing that there’s not a lack of capital around the world for water, but a lack of projects and ideas.”
Research has deepened our understanding of how land management influences rainfall and moisture transfer. New stakeholder groups from outside the sector are joining the conversation, bringing fresh perspectives and momentum. All of this, James notes, is promising and worth acknowledging.
But progress is still far too slow. Many established institutions still work on timelines that stretch 10, 20, or even 30 years ahead, which is far too long given the scale of today’s water challenges. Meanwhile, the problem isn’t a shortage of finance, but a shortage of viable projects and bold ideas that can attract investment and deliver quicker results.
Part of the issue, James believes, is that people don’t fully grasp how fragile freshwater resources are. Water feels abundant. Yet every time we pollute it, we lose more of what’s available, which forces us to expend huge amounts of energy to make it usable again or leave it to the natural cycle to repair. This fragility rarely stays in the public eye. Urgency spikes after a flood or landslide, then fades just as quickly.
Both James and Will argued that this lack of sustained focus makes long-term goals like “net zero by 2050” feel almost laughable. Without higher ambition and faster action, water risks being treated as a future problem, when in reality, the problem is already a reality.
James on the importance of stewardship and collaboration for the future of water
When Will asked about how James views the future of water, James described a mix of progress and frustration. On one hand, new players are entering the space alongside established institutions. On the other hand, the pace of change is far too slow, and opportunities for collaboration are being missed.
There are so many great things, great institutions, and new people coming to the table. But things are not moving fast enough. There’s a lack of dynamism between different stakeholder groups working together; they could be solving each other’s problems and working collaboratively. And yet they’re not — often because they come from different parts of the water sector.
Part of the challenge, James explained, is that water is often politicized. He compared it to solar energy, where governments and private finance invested heavily to drive down costs and scale infrastructure. With water, lowering costs alone isn’t enough — the real challenge is to raise its perceived value and recognize its true economic value.
We forget that water is essential to energy, our economies, and almost everything we use, wear, or eat. Because we don’t see it, we tend to lose interest.”
James recalled a conversation with a food industry executive who shared how difficult it was to convince consumers that it takes ten tonnes of water to produce a box of cereal. Without that visibility, corporate stewardship efforts are easily sidelined during economic downturns or leadership changes.
That political and economic fragility makes water stewardship harder to sustain. As James noted, “it gets kicked around like a football in the playground” — sometimes high on the agenda, sometimes forgotten.
However, James sees little value in calls for a global organizing framework for water. In his view, such rigid structures are unrealistic, especially when they don’t exist for many other global challenges. Instead, he believes progress will come from embracing complexity through multi-stakeholder partnerships, private sector engagement, and keeping people mobilized by channeling the power of social, environmental, and economic markets.
Interested in more Distilled content?
Hosted by Will Sarni, Distilled is a video podcast series that features water leaders from around the world. Each one-on-one conversation explores the guest’s unique career path, discusses the challenges and opportunities facing the water industry, and considers what’s next for water.
You can find the full catalog of episodes here.
