APWF organized the Asia Focus Finance session with the Asian Development Bank, OECD, Alliance For Global Water Adaptation (AGWA), and Water.org on Day1 of the Stockholm World Water Week 2021. This session presented various current initiatives towards upscaling and mainstreaming investments in climate resilience and water security across Asia and the Pacific.
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Best practices in Innovative water financing in Asia and the Pacific
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This session is divided into 2 parts: presentations and panel discussion.
Presentation:
Dr. Xavier Leflaive, Team Leader, Resilience, Adaptation and Water, Environment Directorate, OECD presented enabling conditions for various innovative financing strategies in Asia. He introduced the OECD’s 2021 Water Finance Report, which analyzed challenges, opportunities, and enabling conditions for various financing modalities to bolster water security across Asia. He highlighted that financing flow could be harnessed to contribute to water security in the region.
Ms. Hisaka Kimura, Advisor, Private Sector Operations, introduced the ADB’s approach to encouraging private sector participation in resilience. Water Infrastructure resilience is a key factor of urban resilience. Considering building back better financing is essential after COVID, 19, ADB has supported private sector participation through finance, knowledge, and partnerships by supporting ways to enhance performance. The ADB is also implementing new projects, such as Climate-resilient + smart water infrastructure, Lake and river rehabilitation, Wastewater treatment capacity expansion, Green bond to upgrade water and sanitation facilities, and PPP transaction advisory.
Ms. Kari Davis, Technical Director, AGWA, focused on mainstreaming water resilience in financial institutions in Asia. She introduced how to mainstream water resilience within financial institutions with examples. She emphasized upscaling and mainstreaming water resilience would support water security in Asia and the Pacific. Financial institutions are uniquely situated to drive these changes.
Ms. Buvaneswari Duraisamy, Water.org, and Mr. Mohammed Amin, Adhikar Micro Finance Pvt Ltd, shared the case study of Adhikar, a microfinance institution in Odisha, India. They highlighted that while upstream, large-scale capital investments must be deployed in pursuit of climate-resilience, financial flows that empower people and communities to solve their immediate needs must simultaneously be put into place. Adhikar’s example showed how a community in India came together to secure that their water supply would be stable in the face of an uncertain climate. It would be explored in-depth with the video presentation.
In the Panel discussion, the three representatives shared the current situations and the challenges on the ground. Mr. Ravi Narayanan, Governing Council Chair, APWF, moderated the panel discussion, asked the following questions, and discussed with the panelists.
- How should APEX organizations try to connect with the poor on the ground?
- How can you advise your models of technologies and partnership to other organizations in other countries as good practices to follow?
- What kind of capacity building might be required at all levels at the intermediate and ground levels to take forward the policies and programs about innovative finance?
● Service sector: Perry Rivera, Advisor, Manila Water
● Resilience sector: Ania Grobicki, Deputy Director of External Affairs, GCF
● Banking sector: G. R. Chintala, Chairman, India’s National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development (NABARD), Mumbai
Neeta Pokhrel, Chief of Water Sector Group, ADB, delivered the closing remarks. She highlighted that many presenters and panelists didn’t just talk about financing because it’s not just about financing precisely. It is about much more, making the best use of available assets and our scarce water resources, strengthening governance and capacity within the water sector and beyond the water sector to minimize the financing gap. She also emphasized that private finance and increased options for PPP will promote financing opportunities by incorporating innovations, building better infrastructure, and designing technically sound systems resilient to climate change.
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3 Actions Proposal of the Asia Focus Finance Session Action #1 Action #2 Action #3 |
Program
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Opening Remarks
Presentation Private sector participation in resilience Mainstreaming water resilience in financial institutions in Asia Case study of Adhikar, a microfinance institution in Odisha, India (with video) Panel discussion Service sector: Perry Rivera, Advisor, Manila Water Resilience sector: Ania Grobicki, Deputy Director of External Affairs, GCF Banking sector: G. R. Chintala, Chairman, India’s National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development (NABARD), Mumbai Open discussion with the audience Closing remarks: Neeta Pokhrel, Chief of Water Sector Group, ADB |
（Reporter: Yumiko Asayama, manager）
