Water Futures Mobilizing Multi Stakeholder Action for Resilience 2025

Introduction Climate change is unfolding and water risks are increasing. Addressing these interconnected challenges requires rethinking water systems, long- term planning and bold collective action. Water holds immense economic value. In fact, 60% of global annual GDP depends on water and freshwater ecosystems.3 Yet the world’s water systems are increasingly out of balance, leaving societies vulnerable to water shocks and stresses exacerbated by climate change. The effects of water challenges are already tangible: 500 million people live in areas now wetter than usual, 163 million people live in regions drier than before, 709 million live in places with heightened precipitation intensity, while 86 million live in locations where precipitation intensity has declined over the past 75 years.4 In addition, water-related disasters account for 70% of all deaths related to natural disasters.5 Extreme water-related events, such as flooding and landslides, significantly degrade water quality. Approximately $77 billion is at stake from water-related supply chain risks, particularly affecting manufacturing, materials and food and beverage industries.6 At the same time, 4 billion people face severe water scarcity for part of the year and an additional 3 to 4 billion people could experience physical water scarcity under 2-4°C of global warming.7 Responding to these compound risks requires building long-term capacity to anticipate, reduce, accommodate and recover from future disruptions in water systems – in other words, building water resilience. This demands understanding of the relationships between origins, interdependencies, impacts, ripple effects, tipping points and more on societal, environmental, economic, political and cultural levels. This is a complex undertaking; no actor or sector can achieve resilience on its own.While water is increasingly taking centre stage as a standalone priority, policies and regulations are not evolving fast enough to create the incentives that could drive the changes needed from both the public and private sectors. There is limited progress, for example, on comprehensive policy frameworks that support water resilience in a holistic way. Nevertheless, many countries and regions are progressively developing water strategies8 that address critical issues through targeted policies and planning. There is also more awareness of the urgent need for better regulations and directives relating to sustainability disclosures, for example, or controls on PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals”). A number of leading international organizations have laid the groundwork to enable the current momentum, offering scientific evidence and direction for the future of water practices. In 2022, a significant milestone was achieved with the launch of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW) at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, followed by the publication of its landmark report in 2024, The Economics of Water: Valuing the Hydrological Cycle as a Global Common Good. The GCEW’s report outlines what needs to happen to build water resilience and urges stakeholders globally to drive radical change in how water is valued, managed and used. Its ultimate purpose is to “bring back stability to the global water cycle, deliver on the human right to safe water, achieve food security and development that works for all and keep our planet safe for generations to come”. The next challenge is for multiple sectors, including the private sector and multi-stakeholder platforms, to define how they will take action.With 4 billion people facing severe water scarcity and demand for water soaring, the imperative to strengthen water resilience has never been so urgent. 4 billion people face severe water scarcity for part of the year and an additional 3-4 billion people could experience physical water scarcity under 2-4°C of global warming. Water Futures: Mobilizing Multi-Stakeholder Action for Resilience 5