Interview with Neeta Pokhrel, chief of the Water Sector Group at the Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Water is quite literally life. But billions of people around the world still lack access to clean water and sanitation services. How do we address this while meeting the parallel challenge of climate change? Neeta Pokhrel, chief of the Water Sector Group at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), knows there’s no time to waste: ‘We are already very much behind in meeting the sustainable development goals; climate change will further put this at risk.’

What, in your view, are the key challenges in water globally today?

‘One of the biggest challenges is to meet the basic water and sanitation needs of the unserved, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, ed.). In the Asia and Pacific region, about 1.4 billion people do not have access to sanitation services and more than 500 million don’t have access to safe water. In many places, women and girls spend four hours on average fetching water. An important question is: how do we find the financing to cover those left behind? Because the money cannot possibly come from the public sector only. The second great challenge is climate change. It is an existential threat, and if you want to adapt, you have to go through water. Simply put: water solutions are climate change adaptation solutions.’

How do we organize and accelerate sustainable development through access to water

resources, supply and sanitation, and flood protection?

‘It starts with recognizing the vital role of water. Water contributes to almost all sustainable development goals. We must ensure this connection is prominent—and that subnational and ground-level water and sanitation entities and national governments have the budget for water solutions, even in times of fiscal crunch. We’ve seen that when the pandemic hit, and when funds were diverted for emergency relief, water goals suffered. Parallelly, we must recognize water as the key contributor to climate change adaptation. So far, water entities have not been at the forefront of action as they have not been resourced adequately for this purpose.’

How is climate change compounding current challenges in water security?

‘We are already very much behind in meeting the targets of SDG6 (concerning water, ed.). Climate change will put this further at risk. It may undo any developmental gains. Water facilities will require better emergency warning and disaster prevention systems. Countries like the Netherlands and Germany saw devastating floods in 2021, and they’ve built water facilities for 1000-year events. The lack of resources in Asia and Pacific countries means facilities are designed with much shorter extreme weather event periods, despite the fact that the region is the most disaster-affected in the world. Our entire project-planning mindset must shift to adapt. This will all require additional resources and capacities.’

What does the ADB do to tackle climate change, along with its goals of ensuring water supply and sanitation?

‘ADB supports its developing member countries to finance projects through loans, grants, and technical assistance. We have ambitious targets for climate action: to deliver $100 billion in cumulative climate finance from 2019 to 2030, including $34 billion for climate adaptation. All our sovereign operations and future lending will align with the Paris Agreement starting July 2023. As part of due diligence, we will require partners to follow a green trajectory. We are also strengthening the climate risk assessments for projects and policies and working with governments in planning to ensure proposed projects have more adaptation actions.’

Water projects can make for a difficult business case. How can financing for water infrastructure be ensured?

‘The water sector has not traditionally lent itself to attracting private financing. Enabling an investment environment, by incentivizing and regulating, is one of the ADB’s main pillars of support to our clients. We look at ways we can leverage scarce public resources to draw private financing and ask: where can we help de-risk or blend finances? More and more, we will see public–private partnerships with, for instance, shared infrastructure and services. Digitalization can also be an entry point for private financing in water. A multipronged strategy is required.’

What are some key lessons you have learned from your time at the ADB?

‘Personally: be bold in planning. As developing partners, we sometimes think we can only provide at capacity. We tend to be overly realistic. But there’s simply no time for caution. Let me give you an example. In 2016, we took on the largest rural water supply project in ADB’s history. That was in West Bengal, India, where more than 70 million people did not have household connections to piped water supply water. We aimed to make it a smart water project (using technology and data solutions, ed.). It included early warning systems, citizen’s interface and say on service delivery, and training for women to manage the systems. For many involved, this was considered out of reach. But the project set a new trend, and all subsequent projects there have followed suit. It shows anything is possible, and we can leapfrog to get there faster.’

Key lessons from Neeta Pokhrel

• Bridging the finance gap for water projects requires a multi-pronged strategy; there is no one-size-fits-all
• Water is the key to climate adaptation solutions
• Be bold in planning; ambition is better than being overly cautious