Water regarded as national security priority, says FCDO | EnvirotecWater resilience should be regarded as a national security priority, delegate...
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network
Water resilience should be regarded as a national security priority, delegates to the British Water International Forum 2026 heard on 23 February.
Speaking at the event in London, Andy Roby, senior water resources advisor for the UK government’s Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), said, that there was a potential market opportunity for the water sector supplier community to access investment for projects from government defence budgets and security spending.
Some 4.5% of the government’s GDP spending is on defence, “and a portion of that will be for what is being referred to as resilience,” Roby told attendees. “Water resilience will be a key part of that spending and there is a big market opportunity there, but the question of how to tap into that remains.”
Stressing the critical importance of water security for UK growth, stability, and wider developmental objectives, Roby said, “The global financial system is not fit for climate change, which is 80% water related. We need to integrate water related risks and opportunities, ensuring water is valued and accounted for in economic and financial decision making – working across the whole global financial system.”
He added, “Strengthening water security is therefore critical for delivering the UK’s international mission to create a world free from poverty in a liveable planet.”
The 2026 UK National Security Assessment on Global Ecosystems recognises the importance of global water security for the UK. One of the assessment’s key judgements states that “the critical ecosystems that support major global food production areas, and that impact global climate, water, and weather cycles are the most important for UK national security.”
Shift in funding
Roby explained that the FCDO is transitioning from aid and service delivery to an investment-based and systems thinking development model in this changing landscape, as are other global funding institutions like the World Bank.
He also invited senior leaders with an interest in water to engage with the government on the risk to business if water security is not prioritised. This position was echoed by Tom Arnot, founder of the Water innovation & Research Consortium at the University of Bath.
Chairing a panel that included water innovation cluster groups from Denmark, Spain, and the Netherlands, he said that heavy water using companies needed to put water “front and centre of board decision-making”, as water insecurity was already a fundamental threat to business-as-usual. He too urged companies to look to unusual sources of funding, like defence and resilience budgets.
Attached link
https://envirotecmagazine.com/2026/03/13/water-regarded-as-national-security-priority-says-fcdoTaxonomy
- Water Management & Security
- Water Security
- Water Security
- Water Security
- Water pasteurizing
- Security
- United Kingdom