Water Funds: A sustainable climate adaptation and resilient model for stressed urban watersheds in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
Water resources in Latin America and the Caribbean are highly seasonal and unequally distributed. Climate modelling is predicting greater variation in precipitation, worsening extreme weather events and an increased frequency in water-related disasters. By 2025, estimates show that around 70 percent of the population could be affected by water scarcity. The project aims to support 20 at-risk cities by helping to improve the resilience of their water supplies. Long-term management structures are also being introduced to improve public and private funding of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA). Water funds will be set up and reinforced with the aim of improving the security of supply and ecosystem functions. This work promotes water management models with financing strategies based on water prices as well as private sector partnerships. The insights obtained by the project will help to utilise the water funds model to increase the security of water supplies both regionally and globally.
- Countries
- Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru
- IKI funding
- 5,000,000.00 €
- Duration
- 07/2018 till 12/2024
- Status
- completed
- Implementing organisation
- Inter-American Development Bank (IADB / IDB / BID)
- Political Partner
-
- Ministry of Environment (MINAM) - Peru
- Ministry of Environment - Ecuador
- Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) - Brazil
- Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources - Dominican Republic
- Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MinAmbiente) - Colombia
- National Council for Climate Change and the Clean Development Mechanism - Dominican Republic
- National Superintendence of Sanitation Services (SUNASS)
- National Water Agency - Brazil
- Quito municipality - Ecuador
- Secretariat for the Environment, Infrastructure and Logistics São Paulo (SEMIL)
- Implementing Partner
-
- The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
- The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Europe gGmbH
State of implementation/results
- The project has supported directly more than 84,000 people through capacity building and technical assistance in the implementation of nature-based solutions (e.g. restoration/protection of key ecosystems for water provision) by water funds, as well as through conservation agreements with landowners that have provided sustainable livelihoods and improved watershed resilience (more than 60 agreements signed).
- The project has implemented more than 57,000 hectares of Ecosystem Based Adaptation strategies across six countries (Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru) aimed to improve watershed resilience and water security for key urban areas in the region.
- Six partnerships with the private sector have been forged enabling financial contributions towards the implementation of nature-based solutions through water funds as effective governance and financial mechanisms.
- The project plays a pivotal role in developing and refining seven policy instruments, instrumental in the formulation and scaling of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EBA) strategies and supports the implementation of the NDC adaptation goals of the countries.
- An information platform was launched (available at fondosdeaguaplataformadeinformacion.org/…), as a digital open access library to key watershed resources and provides access to tools through the water funds toolbox.
- The project manager of Water Funds in Brazil was one of the panelists of the online session "The forest - water nexus in Latin America", on August 25, 2022. The session aimed to raise awareness and share experiences on the Forest-Water nexus for fostering collective action in the region and beyond. The Water Fund in Sao Paulo was presented as a case to illustrate the nexus between water and forest.
- On January 31 to February 2, 2023 the Latin American Water Funds Alliance held the Training Workshop "11 years of work in the Latin American Alliance of Water Funds", in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. The workshop aimed to share the achievements obtained by the Latin American Alliance and strengthen the Water Funds in their technical, financial, and social components with specific contents for their management. During the workshop, topics related to science, financial sustainability, public policies, and corporate relations for the strengthening of the Water Fund were addressed.
- On March 22, 2023, the report "The Invisible Reservoir" (www.tnc.org.br/…) on investing in nature-based solutions for water security and climate adaptation in the Cantareira system, São Paulo, Brazil, was launched at the UN Water Conference in New York.
- From August 20th to 24th, 2023, the Water Funds initiative and its partners participated in the "Focus on the Americas" programm in Stockholm, Sweden.
Latest Update:
01/2025
Further links
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