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Virtual workshop on financing transboundary water cooperation and basin development

(by videoconference)

16 - 17 December 2020

The Virtual Workshop on financing transboundary water cooperation and basin development took place via an online platform on 16 and 17 December 2020. It discussed challenges and opportunities related to the financing of transboundary water cooperation and basin development. More specifically, the workshop aimed to:

  1. Provide a platform and facilitate mutual learning to discuss experiences and good practices in mobilizing financial resources for basin cooperation and transboundary water management and development activities;
  2. Analyze the role of the private sector and innovative financial mechanisms in investing in water-related activities at the transboundary level;
  3. Provide a platform for International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and other banks and investors to share information on their functioning and the requirements for countries and RBOs to access their financing. 

The discussions of the workshop were based on the findings and information compiled in the background study on financing transboundary water cooperation and basin development, which was made available to the participants in English, French, Russian and Spanish before the workshop in the table below.

The key issues discussed included:

  • Funding needs for transboundary water cooperation and basin development;
  • Funding sources (public, private) and their specific nature, characteristics, operational details and requirements;
  • Challenges related to accessing these different funding resources and lessons learned for overcoming them.


A high-level opening and closing sessions welcomed:
Ms. Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE); Mr. Thierno Hamet Baba LY, Secretary General, Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Senegal; Mr. Simon Zbinden, Head, Global Water Programme, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); Mr. Tom Panella, Director, Environment, Natural Resources, Agriculture Division, East Asia Department, Asian Development Bank (ADB); Mr. Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility (GEF); Ms. Jennifer Sara, Global Director, World Bank Group's Water Global Practice; Mr. Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The workshop was addressed to representatives from countries with shared watercourses (from ministries of water, environment, foreign affairs and finance); RBOs and joint bodies; international financial institutions (IFIs) and multilateral development banks (MDBs); international and bilateral climate finance mechanisms; the private sector (including companies, private banks, investment banks, pension funds etc); UN entities working on financing.

The virtual workshop was co-organized with the African Development Bank (AfDB); the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Global Environment Facility (GEF); the Global Environment Facility International Waters Learning Exchange and Resources Network (GEF IW:LEARN), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); the Netherlands (Ministry of  Infrastructure and Water Management), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); Senegal (Ministry of Water and Sanitation); Switzerland (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), the United Nations Capital Development Funds (UNCDF); the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the World Bank.

For more information on the outcomes of the workshop, please click here.

Documents and Presentations ENG FRE RUS SPA
Concept note of the workshop PDF PDF PDF PDF
Programme PDF PDF PDF PDF
Background study on financing transboundary water cooperation and basin development PDF PDF PDF PDF
List of Participants        
Presentations        
Opening session        
Introduction
Ms. Diane Guerrier, UNECE Secretariat
PDF - - -
Background study
Ms. Susanne Schmeier and Mr. Wim Verdouw, UNECE Consultants
PDF - - -
Session 1 - Funding needs for transboundary water cooperation and basin development        
Funding needs for cooperation in shared basins:  International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) as an example of a coordination-oriented River Basin Organization  
Mr. Marc Daniel Heintz, International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR)
PDF - - -
Financing of the Lake Chad Basin Commission: experience from an implementation-oriented river basin organization 
Mr. Mamman Nuhu, Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) 
PDF - - -
Transboundary basin development in the Mekong basin: how can a river basin organization’s financial strategy evolve with time? 
Mr. Tran Minh Khoi, Mekong River Commission (MRC) 
PDF - - -
Session 2 - Financing transboundary water cooperation and management: what public financial mechanisms are available for countries and RBOs?         
The key-based mechanism: experience from the International Commission for the Congo-Oubangui-Sangha Basin (CICOS) 
Ms. Judith Enaw, CICOS
PDF - - -
The equal cost-sharing mechanism: experience from the Binational Autonomous Authority of the Lake Titicaca  
Mr. Jorge Peña Méndez, Binational Autonomous Authority of Lake Titicaca  
- - - PDF
Developping a joint basin investment plan to access financial resources:the Sio-Malaba-Malakisi basin experience
Mr. Callist Tindimugaya, Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda 
PDF - - -
Financial cooperation for water infrastructure of common use: example of cooperation between Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
Ms. Gulmira Satymkulova, Water Resources Agency and Chu-Talas Water Management Commission, Kyrgyzstan
- - PDF -
How can climate finance support transboundary water management at basin level? Experience of the Volta Basin Authority using the Adaptation Funds to finance a transboundary adaptation project 
Mr. Robert Dessouassi, Volta Basin Authority (VBA)
- PDF - -
How can a country mobilize national domestic funding to support basin investment plan activities? Experience sharing from Hungary
Mr. Peter Kovacs, River Basin Management and Water Protection Department, Ministry of Interior, Hungary 
PDF - - -
Session 3 - Financing transboundary water management and basin development: what role do private financial actors play and how can countries and RBOs leverage private finance?        
Private financial actors and water investments in shared basins: what are private investors looking when investing in water related projects, what financial mechanisms are being used? 
Ms. Karin Krchnak, 2030 Water Resources Group, World Bank 
PDF - - -
How to leverage private financial resources for transboundary water infrastructures through Public-Private Partnership (PPP)? Experience-sharing from Laos on the Nam Theun 2 hydropower project
Mr. Xaypaseuth Phomsoupha, Partner/S&A Law, Laos
PDF - - -
How could Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) analysis further integrate transboundary water cooperation aspects?
Ms. Cate Lamb, Water Security, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)
PDF - - -
The role of private financial actors in financing water related projects under the Dutch Funds for Climate and Development 
Mr. Aaron Vermeulen, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
PDF - - -
Session 4: Innovative financing mechanisms to support transboundary water cooperation and basin development        
How can Water Funds support transboundary water management: experience of the Trifinio Transboundary Water Funds  
Mr. Federico Franco Cordón, Trifinio Trinational Commission
- - - PDF
How can Water Funds support transboundary water management: experience of the Trifinio Transboundary Water Funds
Mr. Hugo Alberto Contreras, The Nature Conservancy 
- - - PDF
How can water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus investments be an opportunity to finance water-related projects at transboundary level? 
Mr. Fernando R. Miralles, George Mason University
PDF - - -
The blue peace financing: how to blend public and private financial instruments to support transboundary water cooperation and development? 
Mr. Jaffer Machano, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
PDF - - -
The blue peace financing: how to blend public and private financial instruments to support transboundary water cooperation and development? 
Mr. Ndao Ababakar, Organisation for the Development of the Gambia River (OMVG) 
- PDF - -
Session 5: Financing transboundary water cooperation and management: interactive discussion between countries, river basin organizations (RBOs) and international financial institutions (IFIs)         
Questions for interactive discussion PDF - - -
Recordings        
Part 1, 16 December 2020 (morning session) link      
Part 2, 16 Ddecember 2020 (afternoon session) link      
Part 3, 17 December 2020 (morning session) link      
Part 4, 17 December 2020 (afternoon session) link