UfM Recommendations on Water Finance
Prepared under the UfM Working Group on Water Finance and Investment and informed by the UfM Annual Conferences on Water Finance and global processes, these Recommendations are the reference document for advancing the regional water finance agenda. They respond to the chronic under‑financing of water in the Mediterranean, where utilities and administrations face large investment needs but fragmented, often unstable funding, and offer a practical roadmap for governments, regulators, financiers and operators to make water services and investments financially sustainable while maintaining affordability and equity.
Key elements / outcomes
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Calls for national water finance strategies that bring together finance, planning and water authorities around a single, prioritised investment and funding plan.
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Provides guidance on improving public spending quality and tariff/regulatory frameworks to strengthen utilities’ performance, cost‑recovery and protection of vulnerable users.
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Shows how to better tap climate finance, public development banks and commercial lenders, including via risk‑mitigation tools and stronger project preparation.
March 2026
