Jakarta. The water sector is thirsty for investment, according to a UN envoy, as the world is still trying to narrow the multi-trillion-dollar gap in related infrastructure funding. 

UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Water Retno Marsudi told a conference on Tuesday that it was about time the world started to channel more money into building pipe networks and sanitation.

The current trends would put 3 billion people living without safely managed sanitation by 2030. Some 2 billion will not have access to safe drinking water, and half of them have to live without a proper handwashing facility.

“Water projects are structurally under-financed,” Retno told the Indonesia International Sustainability Forum, while warning that economic growth would hinge on water.

“We already have many solutions. The challenge is to bring them to scale. That means making water an investment priority [and] developing projects that can attract finance.”

The ex-foreign minister went on to say that strengthening the skills of the workforce that will run the water technologies is also a must. She added: “More finance alone is not enough. We need the right conditions and capacity to make the investment work.”

Given the huge volumes of investments needed, Retno tried to woo private investors, saying that “the government and the UN system cannot deliver water action alone”. But whatever investments flow into water infrastructure must be “people-centered”.

The World Bank has sounded the alarm about the $7 trillion investment gap for water infrastructure that countries had to address by 2030.

Studies have also warned of the effect of rampant artificial intelligence (AI) use on water supplies as more people grow hooked on chatbots for even the most mundane tasks. Retno not long ago warned that water demand across the AI supply chain “could soar by 129%”.

At home, Indonesia is witnessing high temperatures. As drought is expected to persist until November, the Public Works Ministry reported to have begun pumping water into crop fields and built emergency water distribution networks.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has also financed several Indonesian water sanitation projects, including a $419.6 million loan package in early 2024.

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