A wide range of organisations operate at the interface between the demand for (e.g. water agencies or service providers) and the supply of finance (e.g. financing institutions and financiers at large) with the aim of bridging the substantial financing gap for water-related investments. These...

The Asia Water Development Outlook – a flagship publication by the Asian Development Bank - monitors progress in water security in the Asia Pacific region. For the first time, the 2020 edition documents financing flows that contribute to – or that are needed to enhance – water security in...

Water infrastructure investments are typically capital-intensive and long-lived, involving significant costs and benefits. Their performance over operational lifetimes is highly dependent on the vagaries of the hydrological cycle and subject to the risks and uncertainties associated with climate...

This paper examines the challenges and policy imperatives involved in implementing the Polluter Pays principle (PPP) in the context of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). It presents the state of play of the Polluter Pays principle in EU Member States. It also analyses the coherence with other...

This paper is part of a subset of working papers within the Environment Working Paper series, presenting research on the enabling environment for investment in water security. The subset includes country and regional projects aimed at pilot testing the Scorecard, designed to assess the enabling...

This paper examines the current status of water availability, water demand, and influences from climate change in the European Union. It provides an overview of economic policy instruments to address water scarcity and manage water demand. Additionally, the paper explores policy options and...

This paper examines three sets of issues related to strategic investment planning and financing for water: i) Investment planning in an uncertain context; ii) The benefits of supplementing project level planning with a consideration for pathways of investments; iii) Facilitating access to a...

This report outlines results from the initial pilot-testing of a Scorecard to assess the enabling environment for investment in water security, referred to as "the Scorecard”. Developed in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank and partners, the Scorecard aims to identify conditions for...

This paper examines the concept of cost recovery of water services under the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), including the different types of costs and cost-recovery mechanisms. It presents the state of play in the implementation of cost recovery in EU Member States, for financial,...

Nitrogen management policies introduced in the past decades by some OECD countries have succeeded in reducing excess nitrogen use by farmers, but half of global mineral fertiliser use is still lost for crops. While about half of OECD countries have nutrient surpluses of between 25-50 kg N per...