Key takeaways

1. Globally, there is an urgent call for better water governance. Climate change, demographic growth and urbanisation reinforce the need for effective and inclusive water governance. The WGI will play an active role in the 10th World Water Forum in Bali, Indonesia (18-24 May 2024), especially in relation to the “Governance, cooperation and hydro diplomacy” topic. The Global Commission on the Economics of Water underlined the need for international collaboration to support water justice, sustainability, and food-energy-water security policies.
2. Water is a vector for sustainable development and a connector across policies. The Cities and Regions for a Blue Economy project argues that blue economy resilience goes hand in hand with water resilience and that a systems approach is needed between ocean and freshwater resources policies to overcome challenges, such as water pollution. In Latin America, applying circular economy principles to water management also has great potential for preserving water resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
3. Local policy makers need to be empowered to walk the talk. African Mayors Rohey Malick Lowe (Banjul, Gambia) and Dieudonné Bantsimba (Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo) shared their views on the implementation of the Action Plan of Mayors, Local and Regional Governments for Water Security, one of the outcomes of the OECD and the UCLG-Africa Roundtable of African Mayors for Water Security. In addition to supporting the work of the Roundtable, the WGI will co-produce a Toolkit for the local implementation of the OECD Principles on Water Governance. The Toolkit will complement the OECD Water Governance Indicator Framework (2018) and the OECD Guide on How To Assess Water Governance (2022) as part of the implementation strategy of the Principles.
4. It is not just about money: transparency and accountability matter in water investments. Enhancing the integrity of water regulators and operators can have multiple benefits for water users and service providers, for instance in terms of boosting return on investment, engaging stakeholders, and increasing the level of trust of the community. However, increasing transparency alone is not a guarantee of integrity, which also requires accountability. WIN has developed several tools to improve integrity management for regulators and large and small operators at different stages of the investment cycle.