Financing Climate Action for Water Systems and the Ocean: Readout from the Recent SCF Meetings
Guest blog by Sarah Ransom, General Manager, Australian Water Partnership
In a year with a strong focus on the Pacific within the UNFCCC cycle, it was a real pleasure to attend the Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) Forum on Financing Climate Action for Water Systems and the Ocean in Sydney, 21–22 September 2026 alongside many colleagues from the Indo-Pacific region.
The Forum was hosted by the Government of Australia in partnership with Pacific Island countries and the Philippines, ahead of the formal SCF meeting. SCF Forums are intended to create a less-formal space for dialogue and the theme of climate finance for freshwater water systems, sanitation, coastal ecosystems, and the ocean was well-chosen and timely.
The Forum opened with interventions from the host countries, Dr. Sivendra Michael, Fiji Permanent Secretary for Environment and Climate Change, representing the Pacific Island Countries, and a presentation on the state of the science from Professor Mark Howden. The early presentations set a tone of escalating need for action — “Water is where climate risk becomes immediately human,” in the words of HE Robert Borje of the Philippines.
While recognition of water’s role in climate change was very clear, translation into appropriate finance requires a lot more work. Finance levels into sectors like water and oceans are still hard to estimate, with figures of 45–60% used to designate the amount of adaptation finance allocated to the water sector. Despite reforms to GCF and other major climate finance mechanisms, small countries and sub-national entities experience persistent issues in accessing concessional finance. And major disasters — such as the devastating flooding in Nepal — require rapid response and change risk calculations for the whole finance ecosystem.
Most of the Forum was spent in a series of “labs” which were intended to debate different aspects of the finance question in detail. They were a dynamic and interesting part of the forum. While there was some overlap in the questions for each lab, there were some strong discussion themes, and more questions emerged. Water is complex — it is a human right, and an economic good, and an environmental keystone all at the same time, and needs to be addressed both by government and by other actors. Getting the balance right is key. Some elements of the water equation are potentially attractive to private investment, given the right scaffolding, but not all, and not in all contexts. Access to concessional finance for SIDS and local communities is still too difficult. Interrelationships between water and oceans need further exploration.
The labs also made clear how broad the stakeholder group for this topic was — from those in the room, including government officials who would stay on for the SCF meeting, and at times brought negotiating positions to the dialogue, to advocacy organisations and funders. By the end of the Forum, I felt like I wanted to hear more from private and blended finance in the conversation. There is a need for brokering different forms of finance across the system, acknowledging the scale of this task is beyond the SCF. The convening itself was important but in many ways felt like just the beginning.
Throughout the Forum, and in many of the written submissions, there were references to the importance of a systems and resilience approach to financing for water and oceans. It is an important idea. There is a whole world of potential linkages between water and oceans, seen as one system, but also seeing water through a resilience lens — foregrounding its role as a connector and animator of everything. Finance that supports that approach to resilience and engages with the whole system is the ultimate prize.
Funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Water Partnership plays a small role in the finance system, with flexible grants and technical assistance, responsive to partner priorities. AWP works with partners across the Indo-Pacific region, many of whom are facing an unprecedented El Niño and the prospect of cascading climate-water crises. It is becoming clearer that climate change impacts on the hydrological cycle have been underestimated — and that global responses are needed, but challenging.
On the train home to Canberra, I thought about entry points. How to get from the Forum’s many insights and proposals to that systemic approach. Regional leadership is critical in places like the Pacific where initiatives like the newly-established Pacific Resilience Facility will fill a niche, alongside advocacy strategies like the Pacific Water Security Warriors. But regional work needs to be linked to and supported by global and local levels, as part of an ecosystem.
Stretching the metaphor further, a climate finance ecosystem could recognise all these levels and actors playing a part in an interconnected whole. A steward could support the ecosystem’s integrity, coordinate the different actors, and ensure monitoring informs participants’ actions. It could promote diversity, increase transparency, and provide clear rules and boundaries. Beyond the SCF, it will be interesting to see the progress of initiatives like the World Bank’s Water Forward, with a deliberate multi-stakeholder orientation. And through the ecosystem lens, what this might mean for small participants like AWP to play a more coordinated role in financing urgent water challenges.