The process
From policy to the post-2030 UN agenda.
Three phases. Five years. One window of opportunity to embed a global target for water reuse in the framework that succeeds the Sustainable Development Goals.
The window
Why 2028 is the year that matters most.
The UN sets the world's development agenda in fifteen-year cycles. The Sustainable Development Goals run to 2030. What comes after is being shaped now.
The 2028 UN Water Conference will be the final comprehensive review of the 2018–2028 Water Action Decade — and the moment at which the post-2030 framework for water takes shape. The decisions taken there will define the world's collective ambition on water for the fifteen years that follow.
That is the window in which a global target for water reuse can be adopted as a shared global ambition — not binding, not punitive, but the kind of directional goal that mobilises capital, regulation, and innovation behind a single number. What Net Zero did for carbon, a global reuse target can do for water.
Reaching that window requires a credible policy document, a coalition of member states and UN agencies behind it, and a presence in the UN process from now until 2028. The two years between the 2026 UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi and the 2028 conference are where the case gets made — or doesn't.
The roadmap
Three phases, five years.
From the working groups' policy document in 2026, through global promotion in 2027, to formal adoption between 2028 and 2030.
- Dushanbe Water Conference25–28 May 2026
- HLPF — SDG 6 ReviewJul 2026
- IDRA Congress Policy Launch1–5 Nov 2026
- UN Water Conf. Abu Dhabi2–4 Dec 2026
- DavosJan 2027
- World Water Forum2027
- UN Water Conference2028
- Post-2030 Agenda Adopted2030
Build the case. Land it in the right rooms.
2026 has three jobs: produce the policy document, secure water reuse a place in the UN preparatory track, and use the December conference in Abu Dhabi to set the stage for adoption.
The policy document.
The five working groups are producing a single policy document setting out the rationale for a global target, its design, and the implementation pathway. It is the substantive product of the Initiative's first year.
Launch is at the IDRA World Congress in Riyadh, 1–5 November 2026. The document then travels with the Initiative to the UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi the following month.
The preparatory pathway.
Three moments in 2026 structure the UN-side work. Each is a chance to inject water reuse into the documents and dialogues that will shape the post-2030 agenda.
- 25–28 MayDushanbe Water ConferenceFourth High-level International Conference on the Water Action Decade. The next major preparatory meeting; shapes the content of the UN Water Conference Interactive Dialogues.
- JulyHLPF — SDG 6 in-depth reviewECOSOC's High-level Political Forum. Progress on SDG 6 reported; third SDG 6 Synthesis Report launched.
- 2–4 DecUN Water Conference, Abu DhabiCo-hosted by Senegal and UAE. Six Interactive Dialogues frame the policy direction for the post-2030 agenda.
The supporting partners.
A coalition of the willing is being built across utilities, industrial water users, regulators, technology providers, financiers, NGOs, and academic researchers — already more than fifty active contributors, across the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
The Initiative was co-developed by Global Water Intelligence and the World Bank's Water Resources Group. It grows out of the work of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, whose CEO Henk Ovink is the ambassador for the Initiative. The two operating partners are Global Water Intelligence and the International Desalination and Reuse Association.
Our 2026 objectives
Two diplomatic prizes between now and the Abu Dhabi conference.
Water reuse named in the Interactive Dialogues.
Specifically IAD2 "Water for Prosperity" — co-chaired by Spain and China with the support of UNDP and UNIDO. That dialogue covers wastewater and water-use efficiency across sectors. Reuse belongs at its heart.
A high-profile side event at the UN Water Conference.
With strong support from member states and UN agencies, staged to promote the objectives of the Scaling Water Reuse Initiative and position the policy document for the 2028 adoption track.
Take the policy document global.
A year of high-level visibility, building member-state support across the diplomatic, financial, and water-sector forums that will shape the 2028 negotiations.
World Economic Forum, Davos
Building economic and political backing among heads of state, multilateral institutions, and the global business community. The economics of reuse is a story Davos is well placed to amplify.
World Water Forum
The largest sectoral gathering globally. The venue for technical and sectoral consensus — utilities, ministries, regulators, financiers, and the engineering community in one room.
UNGA preparatory conferences
Working through the UN General Assembly preparatory track that feeds into the 2028 conference negotiations. Member-state alignment is the work of this year.
From ambition to agenda.
The window in which the global target either becomes part of the framework that succeeds the SDGs — or doesn't. This is what the previous two years build toward.
UN Water Conference
The final comprehensive review of the 2018–2028 Water Action Decade — and the decision point at which the post-2030 framework for water takes shape. The headline opportunity for adoption of the target.
Into the post-2030 framework
Working through UN General Assembly processes between the 2028 conference and the 2030 transition to embed the global target for water reuse in whatever framework succeeds the SDGs.
Why a target unlocks the economics.
Adoption of a global target isn't the end goal — it's the lever. A target with member-state backing mobilises regulation, innovation, and finance in the same way Net Zero did for clean energy. That is how the cost of reuse comes down and the value of reused water goes up. The process and the economics are two sides of the same plan.
Help make reuse the first choice for water.
Add your organisation to the coalition. Join a working group. Help shape the policy document for IDRA Riyadh and beyond.