Experts from leading global conservation NGO the Nature Conservancy’s have been discussing innovative financing, water security and water stewardship at World Water Week currently taking place in Stockholm.
Key issues The Nature Conservancy’s experts have been discussing at World Water Week include:
- innovative financing
- water security
- water stewardship
TNC’s representatives are sharing insights about how the organization is mobilizing private-sector collaboration and investment toward natural infrastructure to secure clean, reliable water flows, improve agricultural land use, and sustain the long-term health of the world’s ecosystems.
According to The Nature Conservancy, while upstream watershed protection is recognized as a cost-effective and efficient approach to increasing the security and resilience of urban water supplies, investment in natural infrastructure has yet to be widely adopted as a mainstream solution by water utilities and the municipalities they serve.
Both groups have a critical role to play in the provision of secure and sustainable water to urban populations.
Earlier this week Andrea Erickson, Acting Global Managing Director for Water, The Nature Conservancy and Helmut Kroiss, immediate past president, International Water Association led a joint discussion on how the two organizations are working together to influence greater investments in natural infrastructure.
A separate seminar led by Andrea Erickson, together with Guilio Boccaletti, Chief Strategy Officer at The Nature Conservancy and Acting Global Managing Director for Water, discussed whether there such a thing as innovative financing for ecosystems management.
The seminar included discussions about enabling environments and innovative mechanisms that contribute to scaling up of financing for ecosystem services. Key questions addressed included:
- What are the enabling conditions that promote the development of markets?
- Can innovative mechanisms, such as impact investments, green bonds, climate funds, payment for environmental services, venture capital, pooled financing, be scaled up?
Other issues to be explored at TNC sessions during the week have covered:
- mainstreaming natural infrastructure in water projects and how to optimize water and sanitation projects by incorporating nature-based solutions,
- free-flowing rivers - a global study and conceptual framework to define, quantify, map and monitor their status
- solutions to maintain or restore their benefits ranging from system-scale planning aimed at guiding the siting and design of new river infrastructure, to the re-operation of existing dams to restore natural flow patterns, and the strategic removal of aging infrastructure to reconnect rivers and floodplains.
- how can the private sector unlock natural solutions at scale - TNC is working with a range of private sector organisations to develop multi-stakeholder solutions to mainstream the inclusion of natural infrastructure into watershed protection programmes. Co-presenters The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo,
- Water stewardship benefit accounting: new approaches and lessons learned.
Fifteen years ago, the Conservancy developed water funds to improve water security through science-based systematic change. Today, there are 34 funds on four continents, with 30 more in development.
TNC is inviting stakeholders to join the global community of Water Funds practitioners working to apply and refine the water fund model around the world.
Upcoming Financial Times Water Summit to address key issues
Many of the issues under discussion during World Water Week will be explored at the upcoming FT Water Summit presented by the Financial Times newspaper in association with WWF which takes places in London on 17thOctober.
Giulio Boccaletti Chief Strategy Officer at The Nature Conservancy will be one of the keynote speakers at the Summit
WaterBriefingGlobal is media partner with the Financial Times upcoming FT Water Summit Opening the Floodgates: Unleashing Returns from Water Investments which takes place in London on 17th October 2018
Click here for further information about the Summit
Click here for details of how to register for the Summit
Click here for further information about the Water Funds Network