Financing to increase and improve access to water and sanitation services and ensure resilience and sustainability remains a challenge for many stakeholders both in rural and urban areas. Without sustainable sources of funding, many innovative solutions cannot be scaled or maintained in the long-term. While traditional financing may fall short, a new wave of innovative financing mechanisms is opening up new opportunities. This session will discuss successful cases of innovative financing mechanisms and address the main challenges and solutions to creating an environment of sustainability in the water and sanitation sector. It will include presentations on new instruments developed by multilateral banks, agencies, donors (i.e. Projects for Results, impact bonds, sustainability linked-loans and others); cases about financing nature-based solutions; water resource management; and climate resilience, and circular economy. Cities4Forests Speakers:

• Todd Gartner, Director, Cities4Forests & Natural Infrastructure, WRI