Investing in water security for climate resilient growth and development

The document advocates for Robust Decision Making (RDM) to manage climate uncertainty in water sector investments. It proposes a screening process to categorize investments into no/low regret, climate change risky, and climate change justified options, prioritizing those that provide benefits regardless of the climate scenario. It emphasizes addressing the 'adaptation deficit'—the backlog of investments needed to protect against existing climatic fluctuations—and suggests using sensitivity analysis and benefit-cost appraisals to refine development portfolios.

• There is a significant level of uncertainty regarding how climate change will specifically impact individual countries, regions, districts, and various economic sectors, public health, and social conditions.
• Robust Decision Making (RDM) is presented as a strategy to create decisions that remain valid regardless of future climate outcomes, prioritizing 'no regret' or 'low regret' investments that are beneficial whether or not predicted climate changes occur.
• Many African countries face an 'adaptation deficit,' which is a backlog of necessary investments required to protect against current levels of climatic fluctuations.
• The document proposes a screening process for development portfolios that involves an initial checklist of risk factors followed by a detailed benefit-cost appraisal using sensitivity analysis to test rates of return under different climate scenarios.
• Investments are categorized into three types: no/low regret (acceptable returns in any scenario), climate change risky (acceptable returns only if climate change does not occur), and climate change justified (acceptable returns specifically under climate change scenarios, acting as insurance).

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (n.d.). Investing in water security for climate resilient growth and development. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/WaterSecurity_Brief4_pr3.pdf

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. Investing in water security for climate resilient growth and development. n.d. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/WaterSecurity_Brief4_pr3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=Investing in water security for climate resilient growth and development |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/WaterSecurity_Brief4_pr3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetworkndinvesting, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{Investing in water security for climate resilient growth and development}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/WaterSecurity_Brief4_pr3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }