UN 2023 Water Conference

WaterEquity at the United Nations 2023 Water Conference

Key takeaways on the need to prioratize water and sanitation investment as an accelerator for Sustainable Development Goal 6

The UN 2023 Water Conference (March 22-24) was a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the world to come together to advance bold water action and advocate for affordable, universal access to safe water and sanitation. We were thrilled to host two side events at the United Nations Headquarters and participate in thought-provoking events throughout the conference. While the conference was a watershed moment on the path towards achieving SDG6, further action is needed by way of collective action and increased investment. Below, we’ve summarized the key takeaways and commitments achieved with our co-conveners on how to continue carrying the water action agenda forward.

 

For more thoughts on how to move the water action agenda forward, visit UN Water Conference: How to turn promises into progress? | World Economic Forum (weforum.org).

 

UN 2023 Water Conference

Event information

Bridges Close Gaps!

Read about our commitments at the UN

Description: Moving the blended finance needle to generate financeable water plans
Lead Organization: WaterEquity
Organizers:WaterEquity, Water.org, Green Climate Fund, Aqua for All, Convergence Blended Finance, Climate Fund Managers, FMO – Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, Incofin Investment Management, Invest International, WASTE

Read the full event summary here

 

Key Takeaways:

  • Co-convenors commit to continue an open dialogue and strengthen cooperation while creating additional blended finance facilities for water, and further evolving existing initiatives based on shared learning from successes as well as from failures.
  • Aim to increase synergies to create an efficient financial and impact ecosystem for blended finance and effectively manage commitments of concessional finance/ODA providers such as the European Commission, the GCF, The Government of the Netherlands and others.
  • Over time, aim to achieve at least an average leverage ratio of 1 to 4, meaning that each $1 dollar of concessional capital invested in these transactions mobilizes $4 dollars of commercial capital (including capital deployed by private, public partnerships, e.g., Multilateral Development Banks and Development Finance Institutions and philanthropic investors at market rates).

Rethinking Collective Action

Read about our commitments at the UN 

Description: How can we redesign our economic models to incentivize collective action and unlock impact, value, and investments at system scale?
Co-conveners: WaterEquity, Danone, Government of Chile, Government of UK (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Global Water Partnership (GWP), Green Climate Fund (GCF), The Nature Conservancy, Inter-American Development Bank, Veolia

Read the full event summary here

Key Takeaways:

  • The RETHINKING Coalition was formed to address three critical barriers hindering investment in large-scale watershed interventions:
    • unclear roles and responsibilities
    • convoluted funding processes
    • limited collective accountability
  • The coalition seeks to demonstrate a model of radical collaboration to collectively REIMAGINE our economic development, governance, planning and financing frameworks to incentivize collective action and unlock collective intelligence, impact, value and investments at system scale to achieve SDG6.

    Watch the full session here