Rebecca Peters

Bringing back Golden Bangladesh: Regulation, institutions, and the political economy of river pollution

Rebecca is completing her DPhil in the School of Geography and the Environment. With the UK FCDO funded REACH Water Security programme, she works closely with government, industry, and academics in Bangladesh on the political economy of water pollution. Rebecca is also the 2021 Leland-AMS Foundation Fellow at Chatham House, working with the Environment and Society programme. Rebecca advances research on climate policy, politics, and governance with a focus on China, Europe, the US, and South Asia. Previously she served with the Asian International Rivers Center in Yunnan, China where she presented research on transboundary rivers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. As a Marshall Scholar, her MSc in development economics (University of Manchester) focused on post-apartheid water redistribution in South Africa, and her MSc in water science (King's College London) examined resource management in China. Rebecca holds a BA in international development economics; a BSc in environmental science, policy, and management; and a minor in global poverty from UC Berkeley, where she was a Truman Scholar, Fellow of Berkeley Law Human Rights Center, and the University Medalist.

Journal Articles

• Hoque, S., Peters, R., Whitehead, P., Hope, R. and Hossain, M.A. (2021) River pollution and social inequalities in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Environmental Research Communications, 3(9). 095003.
• Whitehead, P.G., Mimouni, Z., Butterfield, D., Bussi, G., Hossain, M.A., Peters, R., Shawal, S., Holdship, P., Rampley, C.P.N., Jin, L. and Ager, D. (2021) A New Multibranch Model for Metals in River Systems: Impacts and Control of Tannery Wastes in Bangladesh. Sustainability, 13(6): 3556.
• Rampley, C.P.N., Whitehead, P.G., Softley, L., Hossain, M.A., Jin, L., David, J., Shawal, S., Das, P., Thompson, I.P., Huang, W.E., Peters, R., Holdship, P., Hope, R. and Alabaster, G. (2020) River toxicity assessment using molecular biosensors: Heavy metal contamination in the Turag-Balu-Buriganga river systems, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Science of The Total Environment, 703. 134760.
• Peters, R. and Woodhouse, P. (2019) Reform and Regression: Discourses of Water Reallocation in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Water Alternatives, 12(3).
• Whitehead, P.G., Bussi, G., Peters, R., Hossain, M.A., Softley, L., Shawal, S., Jin, L., Rampley, C.P.N., Holdship, P., Hope, R. and Alabaster, G. (2019) Modelling heavy metals in the Buriganga River system: Impacts of tannery pollution control. Science of the Total Environment, 697. 134090.
• Whitehead, P.G., Bussi, G., Hossain, M.A., Dolk, M., Das, P., Comber, S., Peters, R., Charles, K.J., Hope, R., Hossain, S. (2018) Restoring water quality in the polluted Turag-Tongi-Balu river system, Dhaka: Modelling nutrient and total coliform intervention strategies. Science of The Total Environment, 631-632: 223-232.

Book Chapters

• Whitehead, P., Dolk, M., Peters, R. and Leckie, H. (2019) Water Quality Modelling, Monitoring, and Management. Chapter 4 in, Dadson, S.J., Garrick, D.E., Penning-Rowsell, E.C., Hall, J.W., Hope, R. and Hughes, J. (eds.) Water Science, Policy, and Management: A Global Challenge. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. pp. 55-73. ISBN: 9781119520603.

In review

• Peters, R. (2021, in review) Normalized non-compliance: A decentered approach to water pollution regulation.
• Peters, R., Haque, N., Hope, R. (2021, in review) Blunt instruments: Theorizing fines for pollution non-compliance. Book Chapters.
• Whitehead, P., Dolk, M., Peters, R., and Leckie, H. (2019) 'Water Quality Modelling, Management and Monitoring' in Water Security, Policy, and Management. Wiley.
• Peters, R. and Woodhouse, P. (2018) 'Some are more equal than others': The prioritization of development over equity values in South Africa's Water Reform, in Valuing Development, Environment, and Conservation: Creating Values That Matter. Routledge.
• Peters, R. (2015) 'The privatization of everything? Poverty, Power, and the new Water Market' In Territories of Poverty: Rethinking North and South. University of Georgia Press, Series on Geographies of Justice and Social Transformation.

Opinion pieces

• A key step for limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5C (Aug. 2021) Scientific American.
• Can America trust China to fight climate change? (July 2021) Foreign Affairs, co-authored with Sam Geall & Byford Tsang.
• New directions of U.S. climate policy rhetoric (April 2021) The Hill, with Sophie Zinser.

Policy reports and expert comments (Selected)

• Raising climate ambition at COP26. (Oct. 2021) Co-authored with Anna Aberg & Antony Froggatt.
• What COP26 needs to achieve. (Oct. 2021) The World Today. Co-authored with Anna Aberg & Antony Froggatt.
• Taking stock of the G7 on climate action (June 2021) Chatham House Expert Comment with Antony Froggatt.
• Biden's summit on climate (April 2021) Chatham House Expert Comment with Antony Froggatt.
• Kerry must show the U.S. is back (April 2021) The World Today.
• A rejuvenated U.S. role should involve climate outliers (April 2021) Council of Councils Global Memo.
• Understanding river water quality risks to promote economic growth and reduce poverty in Dhaka (2018) UK Department for International Development REACH Water Security Program.
• The Nature Conservancy (2018) Lead author of TNC and International Development Bank (IDB) funded report on climate resilient infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• The Nature Conservancy (2017) Co-author of the Power of Rivers report, presented at the biennial World Hydropower Congress in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Book reviews.
• The fight for climate after COVID-19, Alice Hill (May 2022, forthcoming) International Affairs. Book review.