Policy Brief
Ensuring Water Secure Cities
Learnings from Global Best Practices for Mainstreaming Circular Economy in Wastewater Management
Gupta, Saiba, Cecilia Tortajada, Nitin Bassi, Victor Shinde, Carlos Benítez Sanz, Kartikey Chaturvedi, Ayushi Kashyap
October 2024 | Circular Economy, Sustainable Water
Suggested citation: Gupta, Saiba, Cecilia Tortajada, Nitin Bassi, Victor Shinde, Carlos Benítez Sanz, Kartikey Chaturvedi, Ayushi Kashyap. 2024. Ensuring Water Secure Cities: Learnings from Global Best Practices for Mainstreaming Circular Economy in Wastewater Management. T20 Policy Brief
Overview
Cities in emerging economies face the urgent challenge of water scarcity, exacerbated by climate change and rapid urbanisation. The solution lies in strengthening policy interventions and governance responses, managing water demand, and building more resilient water systems. This policy brief highlights the crucial role of wastewater treatment and reuse as a viable solution to address the increasing demand for water while easing pressure on freshwater resources. Drawing on international case studies from Singapore, Spain, and Saudi Arabia, the brief underscores the importance of governance, finance, technology, capacity building, and data and information for mainstreaming the circular economy in wastewater management in cities globally.
Key Highlights:
- Global wastewater treatment stands at 58 per cent, with significant regional disparities between the Global North and Global South. The reuse of treated municipal wastewater is even lower, at 11 per cent.
- Wastewater treatment capacity augmentation is directly linked to economic development. Significant growth in wastewater treatment capacity is expected in leading emerging economies, including Brazil, India, China, and South Africa.
- Freshwater subsidies and the absence of competitive markets for treated wastewater are major barriers that inhibit the financial viability of wastewater reuse projects.
- Case studies from Spain, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia demonstrate that a paradigm shift towards treating wastewater as a valuable resource enables efficiency in water resources management. These nations have integrated wastewater into water management through governance tools like policies, plans, and regulations.
- Cross-linking discussions between presidencies, tracks, and working groups within the G20 are essential for addressing interdependent challenges and formulating coherent policy outcomes.
Key Recommendations:
- Governance Models: Develop clear national policies and legal frameworks to mainstream treated wastewater reuse, drawing from global examples such as Spain and Singapore.
- Financing Mechanisms: Ensure the financial sustainability of wastewater projects by developing markets for the reuse of treated wastewater and exploring blended finance options, including municipal bonds and public-private partnerships.
- Technological Advancements: Invest in demand-driven technological innovations that are low-cost, energy-efficient, risk-informed, and adapted to local contexts.
- Data and Monitoring: Establish comprehensive, city-level information systems for wastewater management to track progress and inform policy decisions.
- Capacity Building: Engage stakeholders, build institutional capacity, and enhance public awareness campaigns to reduce risks and build acceptance for wastewater reuse initiatives.
- Water Partnerships: The G20 Water Platform can host a partnership facilitation portal to foster collaboration between multi-sectoral stakeholders, promoting economic growth, job creation, innovation, knowledge generation, and dissemination
“ Mutual learning through knowledge sharing between G20 countries and beyond can accelerate the mainstreaming of circularity in wastewater management.”
