Finance in Common2023: The role of Public Development Banks in advancing the 2030 water agenda

The event was organized by the Water Finance Coalition (WFC) in collaboration with CAF, AFD, BANOBRAS, SWA, ALIDE, and brought together leaders and experts from various international and regional organizations, featuring former president of Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla (see list of participants below).

The event focused on four main messages:

• Water is the connector of global agendas and is at the heart of sustainable development.
• We are still far from achieving SDG 6 and other water-related SDGs. A substantial increase in investment is needed, as well as new actors, such as Regional/National Development Public Banks, which have the potential to contribute to Water Security.
• The WFC's ultimate goal is to mobilize and catalyze more (public and private) financial resources, encourage sector-based dialogue, collaboration, partnerships, and knowledge exchange.
• The WFC has a 2030 Strategic Action Plan that provides a framework for collective action, introducing a set of medium-term goals and activities to be attained by 2025.

In a major leap forward, numerous Public Development Banks supported the WFC Collective Declaration, indicating their commitment to advancing water security. CAF, AFD, CDP, ICO, KFW, NADBANK, FONPLATA, ALIDE, and PT SMI. Other institutions have expressed their support, but they are in the review and adherence process. BANOBRAS, EIB, BADEA, AFDB, ADB.

In addition, during the workshop, several Public Development Banks shared their individual commitments. CAF, AFD, BANOBRAS, FONPLATA, ALIDE, NADBANK, KFW, PT SMI, and BADEA described their strategies and commitments aimed at raising financing, providing support, and fostering capacity building within the water sector.

Ongoing initiatives were also discussed at the event, such as the AFD-IRC Technical Support Activity for National Public Development Banks in the water and sanitation sector.

Event video: Roundtable 14 Of the Underlooked Role of PDBs in Financing Water and Sanitation are you Ready to Div - YouTube

Participants:

• Keynote speaker: Ángel Cárdenas, Urban Development, Water, and Creative Economies Manager, CAF
• Moderator: Laura Chinchilla, Former President of Costa Rica

Speakers:

• Franz Rojas, WFC Chair; Director of the Water and Sanitation Division at CAF
• Sylvain Lefebvre, Water and Sanitation Team Leader, AFD Bogota Office
• Carlos Puente, Water, Energy and Environment Director, BANOBRAS
• José Alejandro Herrera Lozano, Deputy Director General of Investments, Monitoring and Evaluation, DNP Colombia
• Felix Klauda, Regional Manager, KFW
• Mariana Prado, Executive Vice President, FONPLATA
• Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, President, BADEA
• Calixto Mateos, Managing Director, Nadbank
• Anderson Aorivan da Cunha Possa, Business Director, BNB (Banco do Nordeste Brasil)
• Xavier Leflaive, Water Team Leader, Environment Directorate, OECD
• Arturo Palma Carro, Chair of the Advisory Council, ANEAS
• Stef Smits, Business Development Deputy Director, IRC
• Romy Calderon, Chief Economist, ALIDE
• Darwin Trisna Djajawinata, Director of Finance and Operations, PT SMI
• Master of Ceremony: Susana Rojas, Regional Coordinator, SWA