How the Netherlands Is Advancing Action Across the Water-Climate Nexus through the NDC Partnership
Water is essential to all aspects of life and development. Yet water insecurity is increasingly impacting communities around the world. Today, roughly four billion people live in water-scarce areas, and one in four children is expected to face extreme water shortages by 2040. With rapid population growth, growing water demands from agriculture and industry and more severe and frequent floods and droughts, water-related crises are rising dramatically.
Even as water systems are under strain, they present an important lever for climate and development action. Resilient and efficient water systems support both climate mitigation and adaptation efforts, and by considering water across sectors, countries create benefits that impact communities, economies and ecosystems.
To strengthen the water–climate nexus, the Netherlands has established the dedicated Water Technical Assistance Facility through the NDC Partnership to support countries with integrating water solutions across national plans, policies and investments.
A global champion of water–climate action, the Netherlands is using this facility to support country-driven efforts and help close the gap in available support, as more than half of water-related requests to the NDC Partnership remain unmet.
What the Facility Provides
The Water Technical Assistance Facility ensures that water-related climate priorities receive the expertise, resources and coordination needed.
Through this facility, countries can request a wide range of support, including:
- Planning for water-related topics, including developing NDC-aligned sectoral strategies and institutional arrangements for implementation, coordination and monitoring
- Supporting investment in water-related projects, including developing investment plans and pipelines
- Strengthening legislative, regulatory and policy frameworks to address water-related challenges and remove barriers to investment
- Embedding in-country facilitators and advisors to strengthen institutional capacity and whole-of-government and whole-of-society coordination
A Growing Portfolio of Water Climate Support
The Netherlands’ support is already catalyzing progress.
In Benin, support through the Water Technical Assistance Facility enabled the country to map its water resources across four river basins, evaluate long-term hydrological trends and generate reliable spatial water data to inform future climate and development planning. Prior to this effort, outdated hydrological information left decision-makers without accurate, real-time data to plan effectively. With this updated water data, Benin is now better positioned to plan a resilient water management system.
Through the facility, the Netherlands is also supporting countries such as Jamaica, where the National Water Commission is assessing energy efficiency and renewable energy opportunities, and Fiji, where embedded expertise is strengthening risk-informed adaptation planning.
How to Engage
Countries submit requests for support for the Netherlands’ consideration through the NDC Partnership’s regular matchmaking process.
To learn more about the support available through the Water Technical Assistance Facility, contact the Support Unit at [email protected].