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.  

One of the challenges shaping the water sector is the discussion around the vital role that women play. Even though the water sector recognises that gender matters for water and that women are critical to achieving sustainability, the engagement and involvement of women face a series of barriers that result in their under-representation in diverse areas linked to the water sector.

To mark International Women’s Day 2022, IWA is hosting a webinar focused on empowering women in the water sector in partnership with the Management Committee of IWA’s Specialist Group on Sustainability in the Water Sector. Following on from last year’s webinar, which featured speakers from Liberia, Malaysia, Albania, Ecuador, South Africa and Australia and was viewed by almost 700 participants, this webinar will highlight perspectives from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. The webinar will address the gender gap in the water sector and advance the discussion, setting out specific proposals to increase and support women’s representation in the water industry. It will be held on 8 March at 15:00 GMT and registrations are now open. The webinar will have live Spanish translation to ensure a wider outreach and participation from the Latin American region.

The list of speakers ranges from younger to senior women professionals working in different areas of the water sector in Central and South America, providing their experience, insights and suggestions to empower, attract and retain more women in water. The webinar will be moderated by Diana Ulloa and Norhayati Abdullah. Diana Ulloa works as a consultant and part of the Coordinating Group of Red Agua Ecuador, she is also a member of the Governing Council of IWA Ecuador. Norhayati is Associate Director at the UTM International, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The webinar will have Blanca Jiménez, Martha Orta Zambrano, Sharon Archie, Juanita Ayala and Malena Galmarini among its panellists. When questioned about the  importance  of discussing the role of women in the water sector, Blanca Jiménez, Mexico’s Ambassador to France and a well-known professional in the water sector, replied that water has an intrinsic gender perspective. According to Blanca, “we need to create better strategies to reduce the labour inequality gap and generate inclusion and non-discrimination in the sector”. Furthermore Malena Galmarini, Pesident of the Argentine Water and Sanitation Company (AYSA), adds that the discussion around water and women raises issues of equity and equality since women represent half of the world’s population and “there is no possibility that this world or the water sector will be more egalitarian if women are not included”.

According to Martha Orta, “today’s women, with their dedication and passion, have demonstrated their knowledge, leadership and resilience is a key part of the change that humanity is experiencing, within a framework of sustainability and innovation”. Finally Juanita Ayala, a Young Water Professional, adds that “pressing challenges such as achieving SDG6, implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation actions, and strengthening WASH governance are not gender-neutral issues. We experience the impacts of these wicked problems differently, making us key agents of change at all managerial and advocacy levels. Purposefully including women in addressing these issues is a win-win situation”.

Besides the webinar, IWA and the Management Committee of IWA’s Specialist Group on Sustainability in the Water Sector launched a survey on this topic, underlining the Association’s commitment to gender issues and its desire to expand its outreach in the LAC region. The survey is available here. Complete the short survey and contribute to the discussion! Responses will form a key part of the 8^th March webinar. We look forward to reading your responses and we hope to see many of you at the webinar!