FAO in partnership with the OECD, organized the 7th meeting of the Roundtable on Financing Water on 27 and 28 January 2021, as a thematic meeting focused on financing agricultural water. This meeting supports the OECD’s broader work on financing water as well as FAO's strategic priorities on promoting investments in agricultural water (and update on the development of the new Strategic Framework) that contribute to sustainable water management, food security, and sustainable development more broadly. FAO, as a founding member of UN-Water, is moving forward on the action pillars of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 Global Acceleration Framework in catalysing water investments, data and information, capacity development, innovation and governance.

The Roundtable on Financing Water provides a global public-private platform drawing upon political leadership and technical expertise, with the ambition of facilitating increased financing of investments that contribute to water security and sustainable growth. The 7th meeting will focus on agriculture water developments and investment needs that was beyond the scope of the previous roundtables.

The Roundtable engages a diversity of actors - governments and regulators in developed, emerging and developing economies, private financiers (e.g. institutional investors, commercial banks, asset managers, impact investors), development financing institutions, bi-lateral donors, international organizations, academia and civil society organizations - focused on finding novel ideas and solutions.

See background documents of the Roundtable:

• Background document Day 1, Roundtable on Financing Agricultural Water: The case for action on financing agricultural water
• Background document Day 2, Roundtable on Financing Agricultural Water: Opportunities for investments in agricultural water to contribute to a green and resilient recovery and mobilise commercial finance