Blue waterHydrological cycle Green waterInvestments in resilient infrastructure should embrace a collaborative, evidence-based approach to ensure service delivery for all and protect communities and assets. Essential to this will be considering blue-green and grey-black cycles and engaging the entire value chain as well as multiple stakeholders. Through a system- wide approach, solutions and measures can be deployed at scale, focusing on stewardship at the basin and sub-basin levels, with the goal of minimizing the water footprint of human activities on freshwater ecosystems. Consultations for this report highlighted the need to scale-up system-wide efforts to implement best practices for industrial and agricultural water use, improve governance and upgrade water infrastructure in different industries to better understand inefficiencies and losses, including measures such as KPI setting, leakage detection and crop rotations. In addition, efforts must be made to protect freshwater ecosystems, focus on replenishment and restoration, promote water reuse (such as rainwater or grey water), and ensure access to water. Focus area 2 – Rethink water use and restore ecosystems FIGURE 5 Based on consultations with stakeholders, key themes to consider for maximizing this opportunity include: –Scale-up best practices to reduce the stress on freshwater sources: stakeholders highlighted increasing corporate efforts to improve water efficiency and reduce freshwater impact, particularly in industry and agriculture, but challenges in quantifying benefits hinder investment, requiring widely adopted standardized frameworks, government support and clearer water targets to drive accountability and sustainability. –Upgrade water infrastructure for water efficiency and resilience: upgrading water infrastructure is perceived as essential for reducing water loss and promoting resilience, with a focus on smart technologies, adaptive planning and real-time data systems. However, high costs, market fragmentation and financing challenges require innovative investment strategies to scale-up solutions effectively. –Design cities and landscapes to retain water: integrate best practices in regional and urban planning (e.g. Sponge Cities) to cater for increasing urbanization while reducing the risk of floods, improving water quality and enhancing biodiversity in urban areas. This includes using permeable surfaces, bioswales and ponds to retain and slow down water locally instead of immediately sending it downstream, an important factor for improving soil moisture, recharging aquifers and preventing flash floods.59 –Strengthen efforts to protect and restore ecosystems: protecting and restoring freshwater ecosystems is increasingly prioritized in corporate strategies, with nature-based solutions playing a key role in enhancing biodiversity, climate adaptation (e.g. flood management, moisture restoration) and climate mitigation. However, effective restoration requires coordinated, long-term, multi- stakeholder basin-level collaboration. –Address groundwater overuse and pollutants: better valuation and management of groundwater – essential for industries and ecosystems – is crucial, as over-extraction and pollution threaten sustainability; this requires improved data collection, stronger regulations and governance to restore balance and protect long-term water security. Water Futures: Mobilizing Multi-Stakeholder Action for Resilience 15

Water Futures Mobilizing Multi Stakeholder Action for Resilience 2025