This week, the international community is meeting at COP28, a critical milestone in our collective effort to combat climate change. As the world turns its attention to this pivotal event, it’s essential to recognise that the fight against climate change is deeply intertwined with another global crisis: water security. According to the Global Risks Report by the World Economic Forum, which has consistently ranked water crises among the top five risks since 2015, over 90% of disasters are water-related, with climate change exerting its most significant impact through water, as highlighted in the UN Water Conference. Water is at the heart of both climate change impacts and nature crises, and sustainable finance is emerging as a crucial tool in addressing this intricate challenge. Addressing this, water regulation becomes a critical focus, especially with the urgency need of integrating water into sustainable finance conversations. 

Before we dive into the world of sustainable finance for water, let’s take a moment to highlight an important precursor event that I’ve attended: the OECD Forum on Green Finance and Investment. As we move toward COP28, this event has set the stage for critical conversations on financing solutions to address water-related challenges. The 2023 edition of the OECD Forum took place on 2-3 October 2023 in Paris, France, and was developed under the theme of ‘Accelerating Policy Action to Close the Credibility Gap’. The event aimed to underscore the urgency of green and sustainable finance in our current global landscape.  

While gathering some of the leading actors from the green finance community, the Forum passed a clear message when it comes to water: although all actors rely on water to some sort of degree, water is not appearing in climate strategies, underscoring its importance and underappreciated its related risks. One of the pressing issues to be addressed is the financial sector’s exposure to water-related physical risks. Despite the critical nature of these risks, they are not yet comprehensively integrated into current risk-assessment tools. This oversight leaves the financial system vulnerable to water-related challenges while missing out on investment opportunities tied to water solutions. 

To effectively address these crises, the financial sector’s understanding of water-related risks must be enhanced. Moreover, it’s increasingly evident that nature-related risks, including those related to water, can have significant macroeconomic implications. Failing to account for, mitigate, and adapt to these risks poses a threat to financial stability. 

Second, there is a need to expand innovative water systems and nature-based solutions (NbS). Multilateral development banks and philanthropic organisations can play a pivotal role in this landscape. Sustainable financing is emerging as a key enabler in fast-tracking these critical water and nature-focused initiatives. Their vast resources and influence can be channelled toward enhancing climate change adaptation efforts and resilience. Moreover, they can provide innovative financial tools that mitigate the risks associated with investments in these projects.  

As we explore sustainable finance initiatives, water regulation emerges as a linchpin, guiding successful projects around the world. For instance, New York City has an initiative aimed at protecting its drinking water through safeguarding its watershed ecosystem services in place since the 90’s. This initiative, which has become a model for many cities in the US, highlights significant cost savings on their financial reports, compared to a filtration plant, making it a fiscally responsible and sustainable choice. In 2016, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission issued green bonds to finance projects that enhance water supply, water quality, and wastewater management. This initiative not only raised funds sustainably but also increased investor confidence. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has issued green bonds specifically for water and wastewater projects. These bonds enable EIB to allocate funds to support sustainable water infrastructure development in Europe and beyond.  

These initiatives showcase the potential impact of sustainable finance in the water sector, ranging from improving water access in developing countries to financing large-scale infrastructure projects in water-scarce regions. They not only secure the necessary funds but also promote environmental and social sustainability. As the global climate leaders gather at COP28 starting on 30 November in Dubai, we need to remind them that the intertwined challenges of climate change and water scarcity demand innovative solutions. Sustainable finance is poised to be critical in our efforts to build a water-wise world that can thrive in the face of these challenges.

Stay tuned for insights and discussions emerging from the IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition in Kigali, as we explore the path to a sustainable water future by 2030. 

There is hope for a better water future following the first UN Water Conference in almost 50 years. Thousands of participants, governments, representatives of the UN agencies and diverse stakeholders, including civil society and business leaders, young people, mayors, scientists and more, became united in a global call for action during the UN Water Conference in New York on 20-24 March 2023. 

The conference also brought together young people from across the world, and they literally got a seat at the negotiating table. Global youth rose to the occasion to ensure that their voices were heard. During the conference I had the pleasure to support the IWA-Grundfos Youth Action for SDG6 delegation which included 14 young water professionals advocating for a water-wise future. Many of them joined the conference as speakers, panellists, session organisers, delegates, and rapporteurs. It was a marathon for them.  

According to the Global Youth Movement for Water, around a quarter of the side events hosted at the UN headquarters had selected youth as one of their target audiences, while many of the events that took place both inside and outside of the UN premises were organised by or with youth-led organisations, including the five interactive dialogues and four special events which saw the involvement of youth-led organisations as speakers or rapporteurs. 

This level of engagement is unprecedented in high-level arenas, especially for a UN conference. At the same time, it is a realisation of the great mobilisation power that young people have and an official recognition that their participation is indeed needed to solve the significant challenges that our world is facing. It demonstrated that “water is and shall remain everyone’s business” as UN-Water Chair and Director General of the International Labour Organization Gilbert F. Houngbo affirmed. 

Although this meaningful youth engagement is strongly desired, it is not something that is easily achieved. Different perceptions are still in conflict, and one of the key challenges is finding a way to ensure that all voices are included in decision-making processes. This challenge is even more complex when we add climate change and all the other environmental issues that are causing uncertainty in our society. Managing all these instabilities requires collaboration and partnerships at local, regional, national, transboundary, and intergenerational scales. 

The Water Action Agenda, the key outcome of the Conference, seems to capture what is needed to achieve a sustainable and water-wise world. Of the 700 commitments that are included in the agenda, more than 400 include youth in its scope. Tajikistan, for instance, pledged to amplify the voices of youth in global processes, aiming to use the Dushanbe Water Process as a follow-up mechanism to the UN 2023 Water Conference. Grundfos, alongside 16 other private sector companies, shared commitments to invest more than $11 billion in innovation and youth engagement over the next five years.  

The bold commitments of the UN Member States also mobilise financial support for water action globally. For example, the EU committed to improve access to drinking water and/or sanitation by 2030 for 70 million people. The EU will also support its Member States with €20 million in funding to accelerate the deployment of wastewater surveillance for COVID-19. The Asian Development Bank pledged to invest $11 billion in the water sector in the Asia-Pacific Region and $100 billion in the water sector globally by 2030. 

The commitments bought together multilateral development banks, governments, non-governmental organisations, and international water and youth platforms. They create momentum that is much needed to accelerate progress and tackle the global water crisis. We know we are lagging behind. We know the obstacles. Now we have to make sure that the commitments can strengthen intergenerational partnerships, support meaningful youth engagement and ultimately deliver SDG 6 by 2030.  

A network demonstrates its strength during crisis times

How an international conference and a global pandemic drives collaboration in youth networks and beyond

Amazing things can happen when people bring something else to the table other than “normally, we do this and that…”.

At IWA YWP Denmark, we have a place for everyone who wants to take part, and we continuously grow and reshape ourselves through the ideas and engagement of members.  The Young Water Professionals (YWP) of the International Water Association (IWA) is a network for students and people in their early career.

The network was officially created in 2004, and the Danish IWA YWP chapter was formed in 2014. Establishing and maintaining such a national network is not as easy as it might look, especially when the IWA YWP efforts most often have to be placed after work hours and without former training in how to sustain a network. But that is also the beauty of being an active member that runs the network and let it flourish.

There is so much to be learned that you are not taught in your everyday job – and so much support from fellow IWA YWPs, if you reach out. The YWP network is both a courageous and safe space to explore ideas, and the road from thought to execution is extremely short, if you have the passion to carry it out.

IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition – the megaphone

Here, six years after the foundation of the IWA YWP Denmark, we are 300 members spread all across the country and we represent an important, and acknowledged, voice in the Danish water sector. The preparation for the IWA #WorldWaterCongress & Exhibition in Copenhagen, Denmark, in May 2021 has worked as a megaphone through which YWP Denmark has made our network more known. Equally, it has been a platform from where we have been able to show that we will, and can, bring important aspects, new ideas and refreshing energy to the table.

We can only encourage other nations to similarly include the young voice in their national debates and initiatives. The enhanced collaboration not only holds true at a national level. Being part of an international conference with YWP specific content as well as YWPs in the programme and steering committees naturally paves the way to international interaction between fellow YWPs.

Today, we have a strong collaboration with especially our Nordic counterparts with who we, for example, plan activities for the Danish and Nordic stands at the conference. We are also planning workshops for the conference with IWA YWPs from the Philippines, Ghana and South Africa, and have generally developed tighter bonds with the chapters in Spain, Canada and the UK.

A global outbreak leads to a global YWP outreach

Then came Covid-19. Needless to say, this changed how we act as an IWA YWP chapter. How does a network, thriving of the energy from face-to-face interactions and development of ideas, remain active – and attractive? This question has forced us to rethink how we plan and do events. In YWP Denmark, the solution was more online content. Are we mastering this fully yet? Maybe not, but we are on our way!

Online content has a positive side effect – we can make our events available to an international crowd of IWA YWPs and beyond. We have already held successful webinars on groundwater and about how it is to work in the water sector – both with international participants – and more online events are on the drawing board.

The global pandemic has certainly kick-started our transition to more global outreach, and we believe it is here to stay. This transformation also goes hand in hand with our worldview – global issues require global collaboration fostered by global communication. Communication, which can be facilitated, for example, through the YWP network.

Bruce Lee encouraged people to ‘be like water’. With this, he meant that people should strive to be open-minded and capable of adapting to different situations.

If someone is ‘like water’, I believe it must be the IWA Young Water Professionals.

The first time I heard about the International Water Association (IWA) was from a friend in 2017. After a series of discussions, I found myself interested in the cause and decided to join the IWA connect platform in 2018. After joining the platform, my colleagues and I realized that at the level of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there was not a Young Water Professionals (YWP) chapter.
Once the chapter was created, I was nominated secretary of the youth network of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and that was the start of my apprenticeship, learning in the water sector as well as networking. The great responsibility that comes with the post helps me personally in developing a good eye for details, taking accurate notes, and sometimes dealing with the different correspondences.

Through IWA Connect, I have had the opportunity to connect with many people. I have had the chance to meet and e-connect with many African young water professionals and some others from around the globe; this has really helped me improve my understanding and knowledge on water-related problems. Young water professionals are really bustling to make a change by addressing different issues, leading as an example to protect the environment and water resources as well as solving water-related problems. The positive energy of YWPs, the willingness to learn from others, to share experience has really incited the team-working spirit in me.

I have also joined several specialist groups on IWA Connect including Agriculture, Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering, IWA Water-Wise World, YWPs, 8th World Water Forum, Groundwater Management, and some more. Through Specialist groups, I have virtually met my peers and surprisingly found a person who works in my country on an Agricultural project and was looking out for help. And since that conversation day, I am supporting Children Hope Forever Project and trying to help whenever needed. These connections are giving me experience and helping me in enhancing my skills as well as prepare myself for professional life.

So far, it has been an instructive journey where I get to work, debate with different people, and learn about the various ways water problems are being treated in different part of the world.