As the MEDISS main purpose is to foster water efficiency to ensure higher agricultural productivity and diversification, it has been looking forward to the Sixth meeting of the Roundtable on Financing Water that will be held on 7^th and 8^th December 2020.

The Roundtable on Financing Water is a global-private platform that has been established by the OECD, together with the Netherlands, the World Water Council, and the World Bank, engaging a different range of actors, aiming to find new ideas and solutions.

This Roundtable pursues an ambitious water goal, referring to water in the goals on food security, healthy lives, sustainable consumption and production, and terrestrial ecosystem. Furthermore, it takes into account water security impacts on communities, economies, and the environment. 

MEDISS has a particularly high interest and expectations in the discussion that will be based on: 

• How investments in water security contribute to sustainable growth, climate action, environmental sustainability and resilience;
• Financing needs and capacities for water-related investments in Europe;
• How water-related investments could contribute to a green and resilient recovery;
• Sustainable finance and the recent developments on EU taxonomy
• Supporting the mobilisation of commercial finance to scale up investment.

From the discussion, the shared specific aims are to:

• Raise greater awareness about the challenges and opportunities connected to financing water-related investment in Europe; 
• Reflect on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis and related economic and social consequences on challenges and opportunities related to financing water-related investments;
• Evaluate recent developments on the EU Covid-19 recovery package, the sustainable finance agenda, including the EU Action Plan on Sustainable Finance and related taxonomy, and the implications for improving water security in the region;
• Identify and disseminate good practices to scale up financing for water-related investment from the countries and financial institutions operating in the regions;
• Raise the visibility of water financing issues in Europe and promote engagement across public and private actors, in particular the sustainable finance community.

A recent work by the OECD highlights four set of actions to enhance more effectiveness of investments in water security and sustainable growth:

Maximise the value of existing assets for water security

Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of existing infrastructure, through better operation and maintenance of infrastructure, demand management, and engagement with stakeholders

Select investment pathways that maximise water security returns over time. 

To prevent to compromise future investment options, it is necessary to give an integrated analysis of how the system performs over time under different scenarios. This requires rigorous triple bottom line analysis.

Scale-up financing through improved risk-return frameworks to enable public and private actors (including water users)
To earn returns commensurate to the risks they take.

Ensure synergies and complementarities with investments in other sectors
Especially urban development, food and energy sectors.

Click here to be updated on the OECD Roundtable on Financing Water.