Vous êtes chaleureusement conviés à participer au séminaire ICIREWARD-SHS organisé par l’UMR GEAU en partenariat avec le Centre Unesco de l’Eau de Montpellier, le mardi 16 décembre de 2025 de 10h à 12h30, en présentiel sur le site INRAE Lavalette (rue Jean-François Breton, Montpellier) - salle Aquadémie, ou à distance via ce lien.

Intervention de Frances Cleaver - Professeure émérite, Lancaster Environment Centre, Université de Lancaster

Titre : Take back control of our water! ( But how?)

Résumé : The privatised water system in England is in perma-crisis with recurring sewage spills, rising household bills, financial profiteering and criminal prosecutions of water companies. The crisis is salient in the news and 82% of people favour public ownership of water. Why then are politicians so reluctant to take back control of the water system?

In this seminar I reflect on the work of the People’s Commission on the Water Sector – an initiative to make an evidence-based case for public ownership. I suggest some reasons why the shift from a failing private system to public ownership is so difficult to achieve in England, despite positive examples from other European countries.