Stockholm/Johannesburg, 23 November 2025. The Global Water Partnership (GWP) welcomes the adoption of the G20 Leaders’ Declaration with a commitment for Leaders to ‘work towards constructive outcomes of the 2026 UN Water Conference’.
GWP commends the G20 leaders for this commitment that aligns strongly with the Roadmap of the G20 Presidential Legacy-Global Water Investment Platform (GIP).
At the invitation of the G20 Presidency of South Africa, GWP is honored to serve as the Secretariat for the GIP-G20 Presidential Legacy Initiative. GWP is pleased to announce the launch of the Global Water Investment Platform (GIP) website on the margins of the historic first G20 Leaders’ Summit held on African soil.
The Global Water Investment Platform was launched in August 2025 during the AU-AIP Africa Water Investment Summit by H.E Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa as a G20 Presidential Legacy Initiative on Water Investments.
“The Global Outlook Council and the Global Water Investment Platform will serve as the world’s premier high-level political and investment platform on water. It will track progress, unlock finance, report annually and align efforts across the G20, UN, multilateral development banks and the private sector. It will mobilise the leadership, capital and innovation required to transform water from a crisis sector into an opportunity sector.”— H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa (read the full speech)
G20 Leaders’ Declaration
The recognition of water in the G20 Leaders’ Declaration marks a turning point for global cooperation, aligning strongly with the GIP Roadmap for constructive outcomes of the 2026 UN Water Conference. The G20 Leaders’ Declaration underscores the urgency of strengthening resilience, advancing sustainable development, and accelerating long-term, inclusive investment flows aligned with national priorities. Importantly, the Declaration highlights water as an essential component of resilience, food security, disaster preparedness, and climate response, and calls for constructive outcomes at the 2026 UN Water Conference.
“Fully aware of the importance of protecting, conserving and restoring water-related ecosystems, we commit to work towards constructive outcomes of the 2026 UN Water Conference.”— G20 Leaders’ Declaration
The launch of the Global Water Investment Platform (GIP) also comes as the G20 High-Level Panel on Global Financial Architecture calls for a Global Partnership on Investment to accelerate long-term, sustainable, and resilient financing. The Global Water Investment Platform aligns strongly with this vision by offering a practical, collaborative mechanism to mobilise and de-risk investment flows into a sector that underpins climate resilience, economic growth, social stability, and achievement of the SDGs.
In addition, the GIP also responds to findings of the G20 Global Inequality Report that underscore deepening disparities in access to basic services, including water and sanitation. By strengthening investment flows, the GIP directly contributes to reducing structural inequalities and advancing inclusive development outcomes across regions.
The GIP is the culmination of global processes that recognised the need for a new investment model for the world’s water systems.
GIP responds to a clear global need: fragmented financing, inadequate pipelines, and high transaction risks have slowed global progress on SDG 6, climate resilience, and inclusive development. The GIP provides a coordinated solution.
The GIP is a global mechanism designed to mobilise and de-risk public and private capital, accelerate the development of national and regional water investment pipelines, and strengthen partnerships across governments, development banks, the private sector, and international institutions.
The GIP Roadmap defines the pathway of the 2025 G20 Leaders’ commitment on water to the Global Water Investment Summit on the margins of the UN 2026 Water Conference in the UAE.
Anchored in the G20 Presidential Legacy, the GIP Roadmap connects milestones from the AU-AIP Africa Water Investment Summit in Cape Town, the 2025 UN General Assembly, G20 Social Summit, G20 Leaders’ Summit, the African Union Summit in early 2026, and preparations towards the 2026 UN Water Conference—culminating in a G20-Legacy GIP Water Investment Summit, as a global platform to realise the ‘G20 Leaders’ Declaration’s commitment to work towards constructive outcomes of the 2026 UN Water Conference’.
Launched during the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the GIP website provides an accessible platform for partners to track progress, engage with initiatives across regions, and contribute to a shared global effort to close the water investment gap. It also serves as a gateway to updates on the G20 Presidential Legacy- Global Outlook Council on Water Investments, which will help sustain political momentum and guide global action toward 2030.
The Global Water Partnership welcomes the G20 Leaders’ Declaration and reaffirms its commitment to supporting countries and partners in delivering the G20 Presidential Legacy on water investments. Through the Global Water Investment Platform, GWP stands ready to work with all stakeholders to unlock financing, strengthen systems, and accelerate investments that ensure a water-secure, climate-resilient, and prosperous future for all.
For more information, visit the Global Water Investment Platform website
www.gipwater.org