The 14th meeting of the Roundtable on Financing Water will be convened by the OECD, jointly with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The meeting will be a thematic workshop on Improving the targeting and efficiency of water investments. It will be held on 29-30 September 2026 at the IFAD headquarters in Rome, Italy (and hybrid), back-to-back with the 44th UN Water meeting.

The meeting is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Netherlands, also in collaboration with the World Water Council, Water Aid and IFAD. 

The 14th Roundtable meeting will examine how water-related investments can be better targeted and how public and private resources can be mobilised more effectively to advance water security. 

The Roundtable meeting aims to generate concrete and actionable recommendations to inform the discussions on financing water at the 2026 UN Water Conference, including to contribute to the development of flagship initiatives associated with its Interactive Dialogues. 

Sessions will focus on:  

• Analysing the drivers and strengthening public expenditure efficiency in the water sector     
• Understanding the role and developing national platforms for financing and coordinating water investments
• Assessing trade and virtual water dependencies for more sustainable and equitable outcomes
• Improving the targeting of water investments to address distributional inequalities
• Integrating water-related risks into water investment decisions, and strengthening the role of central banks and financial supervisors

A detailed agenda will be made available closer to the meeting dates.

Discussions will be underpinned by a series of background papers prepared by the OECD with support from partner organisations. These papers address the thematic areas outlined in the agenda and will provide the analytical foundation for the Roundtable discussions. 

They will be made available closer to the meeting dates. 

The key findings and policy recommendations emerging from both the background papers and the Roundtable discussions will be consolidated and presented at the 2026 UN Water Conference.

For more information, please contact:

• Aude Farnault, Policy Analyst, Water team, OECD Environment Directorate