Global leaders seek investment to close water gap

New York: Global business, investment and philanthropy leaders have called for stronger private-sector involvement in water infrastructure as the world faces an annual investment gap of up to $141 billion to achieve universal access to water and sanitation.

About 50 chief executives, investors and philanthropy leaders gathered at the Permanent Mission of the UAE to the United Nations in New York on Monday for a private roundtable examining how water projects can move from proven concepts to financially viable investments.

The meeting, titled ‘Unlocking Water Investments, Unlocks Growth’, was convened by Badr Jafar, Special Envoy of the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs for Business and Philanthropy, together with Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability, as a curtain-raiser to the 2026 UN Water Conference, which the UAE and Senegal will co-host in Abu Dhabi from December 8 to 10.

The roundtable was held as world leaders gathered in New York for the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. It was moderated by Tania Strauss, Head of Sustainable Growth and People Agenda at the World Economic Forum, under the Chatham House Rule.

Water is increasingly viewed as a critical factor in economic growth, energy security, food production, urban development and industrial expansion, including the infrastructure needed to support artificial intelligence and data centres.

Yet major gaps remain. In 2024, about 2.1 billion people lacked safely managed drinking water, while 3.4 billion lacked safely managed sanitation, according to the UN.

The 2026 SDG 6 Synthesis Report found that progress on safely managed drinking water needs to accelerate eightfold to achieve universal coverage by 2030.

The World Bank estimates that an additional $131 billion to $141 billion a year is required to achieve universal water and sanitation coverage. At the same time, less than 2 per cent of water spending in developing countries comes from private sources, while official development assistance declined by 23 per cent in 2025.

Abdulla Balalaa said water was increasingly shaping the competitiveness and resilience of economies.

“Around the world, water is one of the key defining factors shaping growth, competitiveness, and resilience. The AI revolution, the energy transition, food security and urban growth are all water stories,” he said.

“The AI transformation is equally a water transformation. The same is true for the energy transformation. Our technology and our energy resources are only as strong as the water resources that enable them. We cannot strengthen food systems, expand industrial capacity, nor build resilient cities without critical water infrastructure.”

Badr Jafar said the challenge was not simply developing new water solutions but creating the conditions needed to finance and scale them.

“Water is easy to undervalue because, for most of us, it appears on demand. Yet it is the infrastructure beneath every other infrastructure: food, energy, cities, and now the data centres behind artificial intelligence,” he said.

“The solutions exist. What is missing is the preparation, the risk allocation and the patient capital that turn a good idea into a financeable project,” he added.

Discussions focused on the practical barriers preventing water projects in climate-stressed and rapidly growing markets from reaching financial close.

Participants examined project preparation, offtake arrangements, regulatory and operating risks, and the growing water requirements of food production, energy, industry and digital infrastructure.

The group also discussed how new technologies, including digital and AI-enabled solutions, could be made more affordable in developing economies.

Another focus was the role of catalytic and first-loss capital in helping projects that are not yet commercially investable attract private financing.

Participants considered the potential of long-term guarantees, local-currency financing and project-development facilities to bring viable projects to market. They also examined opportunities in water reuse, loss reduction, storage, efficient desalination and digital monitoring.

The discussions highlighted the importance of combining technology and financing with sound governance and local operating capacity, particularly in emerging markets.

The New York meeting forms part of the UAE’s wider preparations for the UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi, which will be only the third UN conference dedicated to water in almost 50 years and the first to be led by two countries from the Global South.

The UAE’s preparations also build on the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative, including its $150 million commitment supporting the five-year, $119 million XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition focused on affordable desalination solutions.

The Abu Dhabi Global Water Platform, launched in January by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, is another initiative aimed at mobilising investment in the sector, with a target of $2 billion and reaching 10 million people by 2030.

Registration for The Oasis, the UAE-hosted public programme of the UN Water Conference, is free and open ahead of the December event.