High Level Panel Launches Blue Peace Financing Initiative

Through the vehicle of a high-level panel event at the 9th World Water Forum, the Blue Peace Financing Initiative was launched by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), in partnership with River Basin Organisations. 

The Blue Peace Financing Initiative will promote access to River Basin Organisations that combines public and private finance to develop and implement investment plans.

The origins of the Blue Peace Finance Initiative lie in the recommendations made by the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace in 2017, chaired by the former President of Slovenia, Mr Danilo Türk.

The initiative departs from the observation made by the Global Water Partnership that water insecurity costs the global economy some $500 Million USD annually.

Furthermore, it is observed that global capital flows for the development of water resources have a tendency to flow towards sovereign states, rather than to regional bodies or to the subnational entities which often have been mandated to ensure service delivery.

Through the multistakeholder dialogues that are anchored in the policies and practice of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), cooperation frameworks can be constructed that deliver development options based on dialogue and peaceful interactions.

The multi-stakeholder cooperation framework that is the hallmark of IWRM can thus be transformed into investment platforms which function in essence as Blue Bonds.

The principles are similar to that of Green Bonds, which have emerged recently to respond to the need for environmental projects and are predominantly targeted at achieving climate benefits.

Currently the master planning phase of the first Blue Bond has commenced, aiming to achieve a ‘peace dividend’ which creates the enabling environment for economic and social development in a stable setting.