On 6–7 August, the city of Fortaleza, Brazil, hosted a Municipal Peer Exchange Workshop on Nature-based Solutions (NbS). Technical staff from the municipalities of Maranguape, Sobral and Fortaleza presented their projects and initiatives to fellow municipal practitioners and public authorities, including representatives from the governments of Brazil and Uruguay, as well as regional development banks such as CAF. Nature-based Solutions, an area in which Brazil is recognized as a global leader, are actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems, with innovation playing a central role. The workshop was jointly organized by Club de Madrid and the Brazilian firm ABA Climate Solutions within the framework of the project Water and Democracy: Building Governance from Local and National to Global Levels.
Through this workshop, Club de Madrid continues its work on environmental protection and climate adaptation, recognizing water governance as a fundamental pillar and one of the clearest examples of how the quality of governance determines the resilience of our societies.
The rationale behind the workshop was reinforced by the discussions held during Club de Madrid’s Annual Policy Dialogue on 23–24 June 2026, where its Members—former Heads of State and Government—together with leading international experts, examined the role of Global Public Goods. Water governance featured prominently throughout the high-level meeting, highlighting that while water is primarily managed at the local level, the conditions that ensure safe and sustainable access increasingly depend on international and global dynamics and decision-making.
In this context, the Annual Policy Dialogue advanced a strong case for recognizing water as a Global Public Good. Participants concluded that international cooperation provides greater security than competition, that the quality of governance is as important as investment in infrastructure, and that investing in prevention is far more effective than responding after disasters occur.
These conclusions informed the discussions at the municipal technical workshop in Brazil on 6–7 August 2026, where participants also emphasized that trust between institutions and communities is a strategic asset for addressing water-related challenges.
Club de Madrid advocates for an approach to water financing that supports not only infrastructure, but also the long-term sustainability of the systems on which it depends: watershed management, maintenance, information systems, early warning mechanisms, and stronger governance through innovation and Nature-based Solutions (NbS).
