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074 WATER SECURITY „„Revisit and redirect water security efforts to adapt to changes. Changes in climate and land use, regional conflicts, and economic growth make achieving water security a moving target.PRACTICAL STEPS TO TAKE TO INVEST IN WATER SECURITY INCLUDE:„„Finance water security initiatives as part of economic development efforts. This means financing initiatives that ensure water availability and quality, and protect society from water risks, especially droughts, floods, and pollution; „„Integrate water investments into long-term planning efforts. Sequence investment in infrastructure, institutions, and information along a coherent pathway to yield sustainable returns;„„Prioritise investments that will enhance an economy’s resilience to water variability, such as improving water use efficiency within and between agricultural, energy, and industrial sectors; upgrading the supply of water and sanitation services; upgrading irrigation infrastructure; enhancing water disaster prevention and mitigation; and protecting ecosystem services;„„Support a diversity of investments based on robust cost-benefit analyses. Encourage development and diffusion of innovation to increase water efficiency, including within the food and energy sectors;„„Significantly increase investment from existing and new sources of finance. The international community has a role to play in assisting water insecure regions, weaker economies, regions with difficult hydrology and transboundary watersheds, all of which risk falling outside of conventional financial analysis.FINALLY, CHANGE WILL NOT HAPPEN WITHOUT INVESTING IN KNOWLEDGE, PEOPLE, AND PARTNERSHIPS.„„Develop and share knowledge and information to better understand and act upon the risks, costs, and benefits of water management;„„Improve governance, invest in institutional capacities, and apply integrated solutions that underpin transparent and effective water management. In particular, support partnerships that work across sectors (particularly energy, food, health, industry, the environment and spatial planning) and scales (including local, rural/urban, regional, national, and transboundary);„„Listen to local communities and stimulate stakeholder engagement at all levels, to clarify rights and responsibilities, and to facilitate sharing of the risks, opportunities, costs, and benefits;Above: Rudolph CleveringaRight: Changing climate causes drought in many parts of Africa Below: Hydroelectric pumped storage power plant Far right: Southeast Asia faces many water-related risks