2026 Water Cycle White PaperChapter 10: International Coordination and Cooperation

Some regions face drought, floods, deteriorating water environments, and the resulting cycles of food shortages and poverty, as well as disease. Population growth and other factors are making these problems more severe. The United Nations Water Conference, which focuses on water issues, was held in March 2023 for the first time in 46 years. United Nations resolutions also established the 2026 and 2028 United Nations Water Conferences.

According to a July 2023 report by WHO and UNICEF, about 2.1 billion people gained access to safely managed drinking water between 2000 and 2022, while the number of people without at least basic drinking water services fell from about 1.2 billion to about 700 million. In 2022, 57% of the world's population, or about 4.5 billion people, used safely managed sanitation services.

The OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 projects that global water demand will be about 55% higher in 2050 than in 2020 because of growing demand from manufacturing, thermal power generation, household use, and other sectors. The SDGs comprise 17 goals and 169 targets with a 2030 deadline. Goal 6 calls for ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation.

The chapter describes Japan's efforts in international coordination, international cooperation, and the overseas expansion of water businesses to strengthen water security through stable water supplies and proper wastewater treatment worldwide. It states that deploying Japan's institutions, technologies, and systems overseas can help solve global water problems and stimulate Japan's economy.

Water related disasters are described as causing human harm and affecting the world economy through supply chains. Flooding in Thailand also had a major impact on Japanese companies.

The overseas expansion of water infrastructure is described as contributing to partner countries' sustainable development and to Japan's economic growth. Strategy 2030 focuses on improving earning capacity and international competitiveness through cooperation with partner countries, addressing economic security and other concerns while securing national interests, and responding to social changes such as green and digital transformation.

The 13th Workshop on Decentralized Wastewater Treatment in Asia discussed challenges and solutions and promoted the wider use of high performance decentralized wastewater treatment facilities. Related seminars and the renewal of a cooperation memorandum also supported the overseas expansion of Japanese septic tank systems.

The establishment of World Lakes Day provided an occasion to promote passing on healthy, productive lakes to future generations and achieving sustainable development in local communities.

International coordination included sharing information on integrated water resources management, ecosystems, efficient water use, water treatment technologies, and environmental conservation through United Nations World Water Day on March 22, the World Water Forum, the Asia-Pacific Water Summit, the World Irrigation Forum, and other forums. Japan promoted high quality assistance based on its experience, knowledge, and technologies, and worked with United Nations agencies, international organizations, aid agencies, NGOs, and others toward international goals, particularly SDG Goals 6, 11, and 3.

The Network of Asian River Basin Organizations, or NARBO, develops capacity and exchanges information on integrated water resources management. More than 300 people, mainly from member organizations, attended its fifth webinar in April 2025, which covered the use of information technology in basin management and other topics. The WEPA annual meeting and international workshop in Malaysia in September 2025 discussed industrial wastewater management, while an ICID international conference that month presented Japanese technologies and research findings. Two Japanese facilities were newly registered as World Heritage Irrigation Structures, bringing Japan's cumulative total to 56 facilities and the worldwide total to 200 facilities.

Japan hosted the 20th INWEPF Steering Meeting and Symposium in November 2025, sharing information on water use and the multiple functions of paddy agriculture. Japan contributed funds to WHO and International Water Association, or IWA, activities to improve drinking water quality in developing countries. In fiscal 2025, these activities included a quality improvement project and revisions to drinking water quality guidelines. The Japan Water Works Association presented domestic initiatives and technologies at the IWA-ASPIRE conference and exhibition in New Zealand and exchanged views with waterworks associations from other countries. At WEFTEC 2025, the Japan Sewage Works Association reported on a sewer pipe failure in Yashio City and Japan's response. At an IWA international conference on sludge management in Kyoto, Japan's initiatives for the agricultural use of sewage sludge were presented.

At the World Lake Conference organized by ILEC in July 2025, Japan urged countries to implement the United Nations resolution establishing World Lakes Day and shared its policies on lake water environments. Parliamentary vice ministers from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Ministry of the Environment attended a commemorative forum in Shiga Prefecture in August 2025 and exchanged views with the prefecture. To contribute to international goals, Japan worked with United Nations University and WEPA member countries to develop sustainable water management indicators that integrate water environmental conditions, and examined wastewater treatment systems suited to domestic wastewater. Japan communicated the need for water related disaster prevention at a high level Baku Dialogue meeting held alongside COP30 and conducted surveys to identify water supply projects in Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh.

The Asia Wastewater Management Partnership, or AWaP, established by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Ministry of the Environment to advance SDG Target 6.3, held its fourth general meeting in Cambodia in November 2025. Six countries participated, discussing how to make wastewater management a mainstream priority, finance it, and locate treatment facilities optimally, and adopted a policy. Japan also participated in the 25th and 26th meetings of the High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters, or HELP, and proposed contributions with the 2026 United Nations Water Conference in view.

International cooperation proceeded with national governments, private companies, international organizations, NGOs, and others under the Development Cooperation Charter approved by the Cabinet on June 9, 2023. Japan worked with the World Bank, ADB, WEPA, ERIA, and others to improve governance, technology, and capacity for water resources development and management. It also supported infrastructure development and stronger maintenance capacity according to the needs of urban and rural areas in developing countries. JICA developed water supply facilities through financial assistance. It carried out 35 or more technical cooperation projects to improve access, supply hours, and water quality, and strengthen the management of water utilities. It conducted three technical cooperation projects promoting integrated water resources management in the Philippines, Cuba, and Bolivia. In sewerage, wastewater treatment, and water quality management, 10 technical cooperation projects, nine loan assistance projects, and three grant assistance projects were underway.

Cooperation in fiscal 2025 included renovating existing irrigation facilities in the eastern Terai Plain of Nepal and renovating and developing irrigation and drainage facilities in poor areas southwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Japanese experts joined thematic working groups for the ninth phase of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme strategic plan, covering 2022 to 2029, and a Japanese expert served as chair in one of them. Through a trust fund, Japan supported capacity development, personnel training, and regional network building in the Asia-Pacific region. In response to requests from WEPA member countries, it supported improvements to water environments, including management of enclosed water bodies in the Philippines and Malaysia and the development of guidelines for managing pollution loads in Thailand's Chao Phraya River.

To help private companies enter the water business, the Asia Water Environment Improvement Model Project advanced field demonstrations for one continuing project each in Vietnam and Indonesia and conducted a feasibility study for one new project in Vietnam. Using demonstration results from agricultural infrastructure development in Southeast Asia and Africa, Japan prepared field improvement guidelines for efficient agricultural water use. In the Asian monsoon region, it demonstrated water management and facility maintenance approaches that support climate change measures. To curb forest loss and degradation and promote sustainable management, Japan supported efforts to make the forest development contributions of private companies and others visible, examine and develop methods for generating carbon credits through planting, and develop disaster prevention technology projects.

The International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management, or ICHARM, at the Public Works Research Institute researched rainfall, runoff, inundation, and sediment runoff models, virtual flood experiences, and risk management systems, and trained government officials. In fiscal 2025, with support from UNESCO, the World Bank, and ADB, it carried out projects in Asia and Africa on flood and drought forecasting, optimized dam management, and forecasts of climate change impacts. The report also describes participation in a groundwater management seminar in Thailand following a request from the country, along with the sharing of Japan's knowledge. It also reports presentations on groundwater administration for trainees from Malaysia, and field surveys and exchanges of views in Malaysia.

As a policy framework for expanding water businesses, the government held a council meeting on economic cooperation and infrastructure strategy in March 2013 and compiled the Infrastructure Systems Export Strategy in May of that year. It adopted the Infrastructure Systems Overseas Deployment Strategy 2025 in December 2020 and, in response to structural changes in global markets, adopted the Infrastructure Systems Overseas Deployment Strategy 2030 in December 2024. The Act on Overseas Infrastructure Deployment took effect on August 31, 2018. It provides a framework under which government supervised independent administrative agencies and other bodies use their neutrality, negotiating capacity, and technologies and expertise accumulated through domestic work to undertake overseas activities as part of a coordinated public and private sector approach.