Report: Water For Shared Prosperity (Executive Summary)

Courtesy: World Bank

In 1997, thousands of people gathered in Marrakesh, Morocco, for the first World Water Forum to address an urgent problem: the global water crisis. The meeting resulted in the Marrakech Declaration, a pledge that called on the World Water Council to develop a “World Water Vision” for the 21st century.

In 2024, thousands are convening in Bali, Indonesia, for the 10th World Water Forum. Indonesia and Morocco are worlds apart in many ways. As the world’s largest archipelago, Indonesia is surrounded by water. On the other hand, Morocco is partly occupied by the Sahara, the world’s largest hot desert. However, one reality these (and many other) countries share is water stress.

The 10th World Water Forum is an invitation to consider the collective water issues in countries as different as Indonesia and Morocco and to draw parallels among them. But it is also about finding solutions.

This report makes three major contributions. (1)It provides a conceptual framework to illustrate the relationship between water and shared prosperity; (2)It presents new empirical evidence on the drivers, extent and costs of inequalities in water access, as well as disparities in the impacts of climate-related water shocks; and (3)It identifies policy responses to improve water access, strengthen climate resilience, and promote shared prosperity on a livable planet.