Water Europe has released its new white paper Insurance and Water-Resilience Investment: Strengthening insurability, adaptation and public-private risk sharing’.
Developed within its Community of Practice on the Water-Smart Economy, the publication examines how insurance, adaptation and investment can work together to strengthen water resilience.
The paper identifies three policy priorities:
🔵Embedding water risks and future insurability in spatial planning, lending and investment, distinguishing adaptation of existing vulnerable assets from preventing new exposure.
🔵Recognising the full benefits of prevention and adaptation in project appraisal and sharing costs among beneficiaries.
🔵Developing a bankable pipeline of water-resilience projects, supported by clear public-private arrangements for investment and residual-risk protection.
Its central message is that insurance is an integral part of water-resilience finance, but not a substitute for prevention and adaptation. It provides a financial safety net for residual risk within a broader system of preparedness, risk reduction, crisis management and resilient recovery.
The publication explores how water-related risks affect businesses, infrastructure, property values and investment decisions. It examines how insurers can contribute through risk information, early warnings, prevention incentives and Build Back Better practices, alongside long-term capital where projects meet investability criteria. The paper calls for long-term strategies that clarify investment needs, responsibilities and the roles of public and private finance, connecting prevention, adaptation and insurance. The aim is to reduce preventable losses, preserve long-term insurability and mobilise capital for resilience investments.
Read the white paper to explore Water Europe’s recommendations for making water resilience investable and advancing the transition towards a Water-Smart Society and Economy.
