Kyriacos Kakouris, vice-president of the European Investment Bank, spoke at the Global Water Summit in Paris on 13 May, 2025.
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Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Colleagues and Partners,
It is a great honour to join you this morning at the Global Water Summit and I extend my gratitude to the organisers for bringing together such a distinguished group of stakeholders to discuss one of the most pressing challenges of our time: water.
Water is life’s most essential resource. It irrigates our fields, powers our industries, and anchors public health and peace. Yet its reliability is cracking under the pressure of climate change and rising demand.
Before I continue, allow me a personal reflection. I grew up in Cyprus – an island where every household learns early that water is precious and precarious. I remember summers when taps ran only a few hours a day. Those memories taught me that water security is never guaranteed and that collective effort can overcome scarcity. They lend special urgency to my words today.
We have now crossed the 1.5 °C global‑warming threshold. Nearly 70 % of climate impacts are felt through the water cycle: droughts that parch crops, floods that upend communities and storms that batter coastlines. Left unchecked, water insecurity could shave 8 % off global GDP by 2050. Inaction is not an option.
At the European Investment Bank (EIB) we choose action. The EIB is, and will continue to be, one of the world’s largest multilateral investors in the water sector. For the last 10 years, the EIB invested close to €40 billion in the water sector globally. In 2024 alone, we signed almost €4 billion in new lending. We are getting even more ambitious and committed to support the sector. Last year we announced water as one of our key priorities with a development of a water programme focusing on water security and supporting the Commission's forthcoming Water Resilience Strategy. This year, we aim to provide over €4 billion in financing for water security, unlocking more than €10 billion in additional water investments.
Of course, our efforts are but one piece of the global puzzle. It is evident that individual MDBs, however large, cannot address the water challenge alone. Our action for water is built on partnership with national governments, multilateral development banks, utilities, civil‑society groups and, crucially, private investors.
Our programme focuses on three fronts that mirror the most urgent water‑related risks facing the planet.
First, access. Many of you are familiar with the statistics – they represent an urgent call to action for all of us. In response, we are strengthening our efforts to finance infrastructure that ensures equitable access to clean, affordable water and sanitation.
Second, resilience. Europe is warming faster than any other continent. In the south, prolonged droughts are damaging agriculture and accelerating desertification. In the north, intense rainfall and flooding are becoming the norm. The EIB is investing in smarter, more adaptive infrastructure – modernising existing assets, protecting against floods and supporting nature-based solutions to store and manage water. Our financing will focus typically on dikes, storm‑water systems, upgraded drainage, circular water reuse, modern irrigation, leakage detection, smart metering, new reservoirs and nature‑based solutions such as wetland restoration and urban green corridors. Where unavoidable, we support energy‑efficient desalination.
Third, innovation and EU industrial leadership. The economics of water will only work if we leverage innovation. Europe hosts world‑class water firms but scaling breakthrough solutions still requires risk‑tolerant finance. We will support digital monitoring, AI‑driven optimisation, low‑energy treatment for contaminants, circular‑economy models and frontier desalination technologies. Equity and venture debt help innovators move from pilot to commercial scale, creating quality jobs while exporting European expertise worldwide.
At the same time, we will continue to support utilities modernise networks, cut emissions and adopt renewable energy, ensuring that best practice spreads across the sector.
To achieve all of this we need significant investment. And we cannot rely on public budgets alone. In fact, the private sector will need to provide most of the funding. This is where the EIB can play a key role. The Bank has a strong track record of using efficient, innovative instruments to mobilise private sector investment – such as venture and risk capital, guarantees and intermediated financing for SMEs, as well as new approaches like green bonds and impact investing.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are not starting from scratch, but we must move faster. Looking ahead, we have a shared opportunity: to foster even stronger policy reforms, leverage private finance, and advance innovative financial solutions.
Every project we support is also a promise – to the Cypriot farmer scanning the horizon for rain, to the schoolchild learning to swim in a clean river, and to the next generation that will judge us by the water they inherit.
The economics of water demand courage, collaboration and commitment. The European Investment Bank stands ready to play its part – offering capital, expertise and partnership. But no institution can do this alone. This is why we are working closely with the European Commission, other international financial institutions and with many of you here today. I am confident that, together, we can do even more and turn the tide.
Thank you.