In the third iteration of the investor roundtables hosted by Mercer and the Landscape Finance Lab, in collaboration with AtkinsRéalis, 19 leaders examined the essential elements of a blueprint for financing water and nature initiatives. Participants evaluated mechanisms and incentives to encourage participation, and determined priority actions for 2030. This report captures their conclusions.

This report presents three projects, across a farm in East Anglia (UK), a catchment in the Cotswolds (UK), and a city in Moldova, that together demonstrate a 30% reduction in flood risk, a £750 million value proposition from riparian restoration, and €8 million in annual natural capital value from urban drainage investment.

Water resilience requires integrated investment across two levels: property and landscape. Action at farm level alone cannot address flood and drought risk at scale. Aggregating investment across catchments generates natural sponges, storing water in soil, trees and wetlands, filtering for quality, and managing flow timing. Much of our linear infrastructure sits alongside rivers and canals, making it directly exposed to climate-driven water risk. Without landscape-level intervention, these assets face degradation, stranding, or operational failure, directly impacting returns and eroding community resilience

This lens transforms how we understand water finance, shifting from grey infrastructure solutions toward working with nature's own systems.