The aim of this paper is to enhance understanding of how the resilience of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) systems to hazards can be improved. In turn, this aims to inform different strategies for public and private partnerships (PPPs). In a new approach, to acknowledge the multi levelled nature of resilience; risk at the relevant levels are taken into account, (regional/river basin, urban area, and individual). For these levels, we first describe the different components of risk, vulnerability and resilience of the WASH system that influence people׳s exposure to hazards. We illustrate these components using examples from case studies in the literature. Using a social learning lens - a crucial ingredient of resilience - we examine opportunities for reducing risks through improving public–private engagement. These are presented as strategies which could guide investment decisions: As pressures from climate change and development add up, businesses must become aware of the risks involved in operating and investing without considering ecosystem health, both in terms of the services they provide for mitigating floods and droughts, as well as in terms of the development approaches that define how ecosystems are managed (e.g. “making space” for, rather than controlling water). There is a need to develop an institutional culture that strives towards greener and more resilient urban environments with the help of various quality assurance methods. Partnerships must reach the poorer customer base, encourage informal small entrepreneurs, and boost financial mechanisms (e.g. micro-insurance, micro-finance) to support the most vulnerable in society
There are gaps in the governance of phosphorus (P) across the value chain components (from “mine to fork”), within the monitoring and regulation of these components, and surrounding the role of stakeholders in the process. As a result the intrinsic objectives of a governance system for P are not well formulated and yet to be implemented. Phosphorus is a mineral and is produced and marketed much like other minerals. But since P is also an essential element in our food systems, critical for all forms of life and very dispersed in different products, it requires special attention concerning data collaboration especially regarding rock phosphate (RP) commercial reserves and potential resources. Policy leadership in this area is lacking and the world has no independent source of data or a governance system set up to provide independent monitoring of the knowledge and resource base. The science of P governance benefits from a review of how other minerals have been governed but also by taking a multi-level governance perspective to unpack the complexities. This study reviews key interacting factors affecting the need for governance including common perceptions surrounding P and fertilizers among producers and consumers, the highly skewed distribution of the global resource, the absence of the UN system in monitoring availability and consumption of RP resulting in uncertainty about the size of the commercial reserves, and the inefficiencies in various steps in the phosphate value chain from “mine to fork”. The paper provides an overview of governance opportunities including the realms of mining, agriculture and waste management, the respective parameters worth monitoring and regulating, the stakeholders involved and the associated objectives of the resulting improved governance. It provides some suggestions for policy priorities and a staged process of steps to achieve progress.