‘Glasgow Framework’ presents practical solutions to SDG6 financing gap

(by Karma Loveday)

The ‘Glasgow Framework’ – a comprehensive new framework that seeks to address the structural barriers preventing investment in water and sanitation services globally – is out for consultation. 

It has been produced by Oxera, in partnership with the UK Host Country Committee for the International Water Association World Water Congress in Glasgow in October.

Primarily aimed at national governments – but also at investors, practitioners and partners – the framework provides practical, structured guidance on how to produce effective National Water Strategies: government-led, system-wide frameworks that set out how a country plans, finances and delivers water and sanitation services over time.

Oxera said in its report presenting the framework: “The persistent financing gap for SDG6, estimated at $114bn per year – and likely underestimated – is not primarily a shortage of global capital. Rather, it reflects structural weaknesses across the sector, including fragmented institutions, weak data and transparency, constrained revenue systems, limited creditworthiness, and poorly allocated risk. These challenges are present across all economies, including those with relatively strong access to capital.”

To attract capital, countries need to strengthen four core, interdependent dimensions of water sector governance: strategy, investment pathways, enabling systems and accountability. In addition, effective leadership is typically a valuable catalyst.

The report, Bridging the water investment gap: a framework for delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 - Oxera , first identifies barriers to financing and then sets out solutions in the form of prioritised recommendations. Both sets are organised around four themes: data and information; regulation and governance; funding; and financing.

The solutions are rooted in tested and implemented real-world examples. Recognising that countries face widely differing circumstances, the framework groups water systems into four archetypes to tailor both diagnosis and recommendations: 

• Archetype 1: High-coverage, ageing networks.

• Archetype 2: Rapidly urbanising, partially networked systems.

• Archetype 3: Small-scale, rural systems.

• Archetype 4: Professionalised rural aggregators.

Dr Luis Correia da Silva, Oxera chair and partner, said: “The global challenge on water is not simply one of funding and financing, it is one of economic and institutional design. Despite the scale of global capital available, too many water systems remain unable to attract investment because the right structures are not in place. The Glasgow Framework sets out a practical framework to help countries build the governance, regulation and accountability needed to unlock investment at scale.”

The Glasgow Framework will be finalised following consultation feedback; discussion with key stakeholders including the UN, OECD and World Bank; and dedicated scrutiny at a financing summit at the World Water Congress in October. 

Despite a decade of commitment to universal access to safely managed water and sanitation, 2.2bn people still lack safely managed drinking water, 3.4bn lack safely managed sanitation, and only 56% of global domestic wastewater is safely treated.