From water risk recognition to financing its reduction
Organizers: GIZ
WRT Speaker: Idrees Malyar
COP31 offers an opportunity to move from a shared diagnosis of water-related financial risks towards a common agenda for coordinated action. Ministries of Finance, central banks, financial supervisors, credit rating agencies, insurers, commercial banks and development finance institutions bring complementary perspectives and capabilities to this challenge. Closer collaboration could help strengthen the integration of water risks into macroeconomic and financial decision-making, recognize and reward investments that demonstrably reduce risks, and mobilize capital for water resilience without further marginalizing vulnerable economies and communities. The challenge is to identify where these complementary roles intersect, which barriers require collective solutions, and how public and private actors can work together to translate financial risk awareness into investment at scale.
The German Development Cooperation can contribute valuable experience in bridging the hydrological, institutional and financial dimensions of water resilience. Through technical cooperation, it supports water governance, basin planning, regulatory frameworks, project preparation and financial-sector capacity development, helping connect investment needs with potential financiers. Building on this experience, the session will explore how earlier investor engagement, targeted technical assistance and closer coordination between policy reforms and investment preparation can help address barriers to private capital mobilization and deliver measurable results. The dialogue will seek to identify practical opportunities for collaboration and complementary action to strengthen economic and financial resilience through investment in water security.