Bridging the 6.5 Trillion Water Infrastructure Gap A Playbook 2025

Images: Adobe Stock, Arup Disclaimer This document is published by the World Economic Forum as a contribution to a project, insight area or interaction. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are a result of a collaborative process facilitated and endorsed by the World Economic Forum but whose results do not necessarily represent the views of the World Economic Forum, nor the entirety of its Members, Partners or other stakeholders. © 2025 World Economic Forum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.Contents Forewords 3 Executive summary 5 1 The €11.4 trillion water investment opportunity 6 1.1 The size of the global water infrastructure gap 7 1.2 Socio-economic impact assessment 10 2 Drivers of investment demand 12 2.1 Equitable access 14 2.2 Infrastructure resilience 17 2.3 Circularity and resource recovery 20 2.4 Innovation for efficiency 24 3 Key enablers to bridge the investment gap 26 3.1 Policy 28 3.2 Finance 31 3.3 Technology 35 3.4 Culture 37 Conclusion 38 Contributors 39 Endnotes 41 Bridging the €6.5 Trillion Water Infrastructure Gap: A Playbook 2