Chapter 11

Conclusions

To effectively tackle the water crises, we need to consider the full implications of the hydrological cycle, the combination of green and blue water, that has consequences for communities and economies around the world and all the earth’s ecosystems, affecting our collective ability to achieve local, national and global agendas in relation to dignified lives, food security, sustainable development, and more.

This report supports a new perspective on the way we value and govern water as a global common good. A perspective that recognises a stable hydrological cycle as a condition to achieve our most important social, economic and environmental goals. A perspective that combines economic efficiency, social and economic equity, and environmental sustainability, knowing that achieving each of these pillars requires that the other two are realised as well.

The GCEW has identified 5 critical mission areas, which together can guide action towards addressing a growing water crisis and stabilising the hydrological cycle so as to secure its benefits. They are open for further deliberation and adaptation, to favour ownership in diverse jurisdictions:

Launch a new revolution in food systems to improve water productivity in agriculture while meeting the nutritional needs of a growing world population.

Conserve and restore natural habitats critical to protect green water.

Establish a circular water economy, including changes in industrial processes, so that every drop of used water generates a new drop through reuse.

Enable a clean energy and AI-rich era with much lower water intensity.

Ensure that no child dies from unsafe water by 2030, by securing the reliable supply of potable water and sanitation for underserved communities.

A distinctive feature of missions is the emphasis on the role and capacities of governments to shape markets so that they become radically more sustainable in the way they affect the hydrological cycle through water and land use. Governments – national and local – can do so by mobilising a range of instruments and designing partnerships that deliver public value.

The solution space mapped in this report considers the role of innovation across missions, and the conditions for the expected benefits of innovation to materialise. Partnerships have the potential to mobilise the capacities of a range of agencies, with risks and rewards that are shared fairly. There is in particular a critical need to combine policy, financial and social instruments to unlock investments for water security, catering to each country’s needs.

Indeed, finance is part of the solution, with the need for both early-stage and patient finance, and for public and private finance to be brought together to contribute to our critical water missions. More must be achieved through public and development finance, through country-tailored, programmatic (not only project-based) approaches, in line with national development strategies – with particularly important roles for public development banks.

Water service providers are key institutions to deliver on the five missions. They deliver best if a wide range of technological, organisational and governance options are considered, which put public value and those most in need centre stage.

The GCEW recognises the role of publicly available and interoperable data to underpin policy and investment. Corporate finance and financial markets would benefit from robust assessment and disclosure of the physical and financial materiality of water risks, taking account of the full hydrological cycle. The GCEW recommends a global water data architecture as one of the key components of new global governance arrangements for the hydrological cycle. So far, international collaboration has focused on the management of transboundary rivers and lakes, a most needed endeavour. Consideration for the full hydrological cycle calls for similar efforts on green water flows. Could inspiration stem from efforts to mitigate long-range transboundary air pollution, an area with more than 40 years’ experience in international cooperation to manage clouds and rainfall?

Conclusions

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