9ème Forum mondial de l'eau - Analyse du deuxième jour
Exploring the financial innovations of the World Water Forum
Financing sustainable development can be a challenging endeavour, as classical banking typically seeks financial returns, and activities that are profitable do not in and of themselves deliver social or environmental benefits. Through research and experimentation, new approaches can be developed that deliver on the triple bottom line of people, profit and planet. Over the last 24h some very interesting new initiatives have been presented at the 9th World Water Forum, and since this forum is designed to deliver some concrete commitments and responses devoted to concrete responses, it is interesting to explore some of the financial innovations that have been presented over the last 24 hours.
First, in the context of the Dakar Forum, a Blue Fund has been proposed in the context of the Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Senegal (OMVS), the transboundary River Basin Organisation dedicated to international cooperation and development created in 1972. The OMVS is exemplary as a model of peaceful and constructive cooperation for development and following a roundtable discussion on the theme of water as a vector for peace in 2021, stakeholders felt the need to further strengthen the mutual trust between institutions, (sub)national government and local populations to advance regional development and reverse the decline in security in the region. As such shared space for financing is being established during the Forum: the blue fund is not a classical fund but a "virtual counter" which can finance a broad range of projects developed through consultations and with a strong social and environmental impact. The fund will be dedicated to increase economic resilience in the basin and take account of the livelihood and income generating requirements of local populations to regenerate social cohesion. The initiatives that emerge will be among those earmarked projects which will serve to demonstrate the capacity of the 9th Forum to deliver practical results.
Secondly, panning out to a broader geographical scope, there is the Blue Peace Financing Initiative promoted by the United Nations Capital Development Fund and the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation. This initiative departs from the observation that water insecurity costs the global economy some US$ 500 million, and global capital flows for the development of water resources have a tendency to flow towards sovereign states rather than to subnational entities which often have been mandated to ensure service delivery. Through the multistakeholder dialogues that are anchored in the policies and practice of Integrated Water Resources Management, cooperation frameworks can be constructed that deliver development options based on dialogue and peaceful interactions. The multi-stakeholder cooperation framework are thus transformed into investment platforms which function in essence as Blue Bonds, in the same way that Green Bonds have emerged to respond to the need for environmental projects which, especially, bring about climate benefits. Currently the master planning phase of the first Blue Bond has commenced, aiming to achieve a peace dividend which creates the enabling environment for economic and social development in a stable setting.
Troisièmement, la Banque islamique de développement et UN Habitat ont partagé les leçons tirées de la mise en place d'un système d'assainissement inclusif à l'échelle de la communauté (Community Wide Inclusive Sanitation - CWIS). L'approche CWIS vise à changer le paradigme de la fourniture d'assainissement, en ouvrant l'espace pour répondre à certaines réalités clés des zones urbaines, semi-urbaines et rurales. Au Sénégal, par exemple, 45% de la population vit dans des zones urbaines, mais le taux de croissance des zones urbaines est de 2,5% par an et bientôt la majorité de la population du Sénégal vivra dans des zones urbaines. Ce taux de croissance n'est cependant pas suivi par le développement de services d'assainissement de base ou de gestion des eaux usées, et les effets du changement climatique contribuent à augmenter la fréquence des événements météorologiques extrêmes et à réduire la qualité de l'eau. L'approche CWIS exige une évaluation franche de la réalité : si une partie du développement spatial s'est déroulée de manière planifiée et inclut à la fois l'assainissement et les eaux usées, il existe également un développement étendu et non planifié. Afin de ne laisser personne de côté, il est nécessaire de fournir un éventail de solutions différentes, comprenant des services centralisés ou décentralisés, avec ou sans égouts. Le CWIS propose un éventail de technologies et de modèles commerciaux différents : dans de nombreuses régions, les ménages disposent des ressources nécessaires pour investir dans l'assainissement ; dans d'autres régions, la chaîne de valeur doit être analysée afin d'évaluer s'il existe des activités susceptibles de générer des revenus permettant de couvrir les coûts d'investissement. Sur la base des expériences positives de l'approche CWIS, la Banque islamique de développement adopte une approche mixte et personnalisée de l'assainissement à Dakar.
Dr Tobias Schmitz
Development Advisor, The Water Diplomat