Water must move to the centre of climate action

Résumé détaillé

For three decades, the international response to climate change has focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

For three decades, the international response to climate change has focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The energy transition has become central to this effort, shaping national policies, mobilising investment, and driving innovation. Now, as the world confronts the consequences of climate change already under way, we must give water the same prominence in our approach to adaptation.

Water is how most people first experience climate change. Whether through prolonged drought, devastating floods, or increasingly unpredictable rainfall, its effects reach directly into people’s lives, threatening food production, livelihoods, public health, and economic security.

So, if energy has been the defining concern of climate mitigation, water must become the defining concern of adaptation. And for this to be effective, recognition must be matched by adequate resources and meaningful action. Water already features in the national climate plans of most countries, and is the sector most frequently identified in their adaptation measures. Yet inclusion in a national plan is not the same as meaningful action. Currently, investment remains insufficient, fragmented, and poorly coordinated.

The scale of the shortfall is considerable. A 2024 report by the World Bank estimates that developing countries need an additional $131.4 billion-$140.8 billion annually to achieve universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2030. Behind this figure are communities without reliable drinking water, children exposed to preventable disease, and populations whose livelihoods and security are threatened by drought and flooding.

Leaders, therefore, must close the gap between their commitments and the resources allocated to fulfil them. Water infrastructure, sanitation, and resilient water management cannot remain underfunded priorities in countries’ national adaptation strategies.

There are encouraging examples of the leadership required.

The same determination is needed internationally.

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