ECLAC’s Natural Resources Division co-organized the session “Investing in the future: A paradigm shift in Latin America and the Caribbean” at World Water Week 2022 held in Stockholm

World Water Week 2022, organized between August 23 and September 1 by the Stockholm International Water Institute, is the main conference on water-related issues worldwide. The Week attracts a diverse mix of participants from many professional backgrounds and from all corners of the world.

ECLAC, through the Water and Energy Unit of the Natural Resources Division, acted as co-organizer in the session on the 29th “Investing in the future: A paradigm shift in Latin America and the Caribbean” together with representatives of several international organizations, development banks, cooperation agencies and companies providing water and sanitation services in the region, among which were the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Development Bank of Latin America – CAF, Argentina Agua y Sanitation (AySA), The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), Water Equity, International Water and Sanitation Center (IRC) and the World Bank. The session was moderated by Mónica Altamirano from NOW Partners.

ECLAC considers that one of the main challenges is to generate evidence on the reasons why investments should be made in the drinking water and sanitation sector, and on how these investments should be made, considering the economic, social and environmental spheres. Thus, the intervention of ECLAC, which was in charge of the economic affairs officer of the Unit, Silvia Saravia Matus, had the objective of highlighting the opportunities for bankable and sustainable projects in the region.

Saravia Matus presented the study “Opportunities for the circular economy in wastewater treatment in Latin America and the Caribbean”. This study carried out by ECLAC on 75 wastewater treatment plants in 5 countries in the region (Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and the Plurinational State of Bolivia) shows the technical and financial feasibility of implementing wastewater treatment projects with a circular approach. Specifically, Silvia highlighted that investing in circular water treatment systems and recovering methane for power generation and self-consumption has a positive cost-benefit ratio, since it reduces plant operating costs by approximately 40% and reduces methane emissions by 86%, with a positive equivalent cost-benefit ratio per person of USD 1.36 over a 20-year horizon.

During the rest of the session, innovative financing mechanisms in the water sector were shared and the necessary enabling environment for the execution of “the next generation” of projects in LAC was analyzed. In this way, after the intervention of ECLAC, representatives of Saguapac (Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia), BANOBRAS (Mexico), Igua (Brazil) and Veolia (Morocco) shared innovative experiences in terms of water security, financing, solutions based on nature and other relevant information to ensure the protection of vulnerable groups and overcome water and sanitation challenges throughout the region.