Water infrastructure as natural capital: unlocking investment for a nature-positive economy

This high-level conference addresses a key structural challenge: the persistent financing gap in water infrastructure across Europe, which constrains resilience, environmental protection and competitiveness.

Water systems, including wastewater treatment, reuse and resource recovery, generate significant environmental value, yet remain under-recognised within ‘investing in nature’ frameworks and sustainable finance mechanisms.

Building on Acea’s ongoing work on the European Water Resilience Strategy, which identifies water as a critical yet undervalued economic asset and highlights the need to unlock large-scale investments through new governance and financial approaches, the event aims to position water infrastructure as natural capital and to foster dialogue among policymakers, investors and industry leaders.

Particular attention will be given to scalable financial solutions to bridge this gap, including emerging tools such as Nature Credits, blue bonds and other market-based mechanisms, aimed at better capturing the environmental and economic value generated by water systems. A dedicated focus will also be placed on the EU Nature Credits framework, in connection with the European Water Resilience Strategy, to support the recognition of water systems within biodiversity and nature-related finance.