In 2016, the National Water Authority, with the collaboration of 2030 WRG and other members of the Peru multi-stakeholder platform, launched the Blue Certificate—a national award recognizing companies’ efforts to reduce their water footprint—to increase water-use efficiency and treated wastewater reuse among private sector companies. The Peruvian Government Procurement Entity also joined the initiative by granting additional points in all public bids to companies that have been awarded the Blue Certificate.

The Blue Certificate is granted to water-responsible private companies that assess their water footprint based on the ISO 14046 standard, commit to engaging in a concrete activity to accomplish water footprint reductions, and implement shared-value strategies and projects with communities in the watersheds where they work. The Blue Certificate has helped the government recognize and encourage companies to implement water-saving measures, and has strengthened the relationship between the public and private sectors.

In Mongolia, 2030 WRG supported IFC’s Mining and Water Management Roundtable, which was established in 2013 to engage mining companies in the South Gobi region to improve their water management and stakeholder engagement practices.

The roundtable led to the development of a voluntary code of practice for sustainable mine water management, based on leading international best practices. Eleven mining companies signed and adopted the code as “a powerful display of corporate accountability,” as the first signatories said. The code has been a critical step toward building trust among local stakeholders working to manage common water resources.

To support water pollution management, 2030 WRG developed a new water pollution fee law in Mongolia, approved by the country’s Parliament and Cabinet, which promotes wastewater reuse and incentivizes large businesses to treat wastewater onsite. 

Involving large water users such as power plants, beverage companies, public commercial utilities, and mining companies in proposing changes to the law has helped to reduce water use and wastewater discharge, and increased pre-treatment of industrial pollutants by companies before discharge to central sewers. A total of 22 companies in eight sectors are implementing pre-treatment, with an overall impact of 60 million m3 or reduced wastewater discharge into the Tuul River.

• The project has reached an estimated 190,000 beneficiaries directly and indirectly—with benefits to not only the farmers but also their communities and the clients of the farmer hubs who provide the services.
• The groundwater abstraction avoided—saving through scaling high efficiency irrigation such as alternate wet and dry irrigation and drip irrigation—is 16.7 million cubic meters of water.
• The project has increased rice production by about 400 kilograms per hectare of land. Cumulatively, from 2018 to 2023, almost 380 hectares of land have been covered through direct alternate wet and dry irrigation interventions with farmers.

In Kenya, the accelerator is working with the World Bank’s Water Global Practice to facilitate $10 million for improved operational efficiency and WASH service delivery, targeting public water service providers and WASH service providers. Operational efficiency will improve the creditworthiness of water service providers and enhance their eligibility for commercial financing, helping to close an investment gap of $8.32 billion (2023 to 2030) as estimated in the Kenyan government’s National Water and Sanitation Investment Plan.

Lessons learned from the financing facility will be a reference for and catalyze the development of innovative models to attract additional commercial financing to the water sector. The accelerator also targets a cumulative reduction of municipal water losses from 40% to less than 25%, with access to WASH services for 2 million people. The targets will be facilitated jointly through World Bank operations.