The Council’s Mandate originated from two processes. Firstly,  on 21 November 2020, during the G20 Presidency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, G20 Heads of State and Government adopted the G20 Leaders Declaration acknowledging that affordable, reliable, and safe water, sanitation, and hygiene services are essential for human life. The G20 Leaders welcomed the G20 Dialogues on Water as a basis to share best practices and promote innovation, and new technologies, on a voluntary basis, that will foster sustainable, resilient, and integrated water management.

The G20 Water Dialogues were sustained by subsequent G20 Presidencies of Italy in 2021, Indonesia in 2022, India in 2023 and Brazil in 2024.

Secondly, on 7 February 2021, during the 34th ordinary session of African Union Summit, the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government adopted the Africa Water Investment Programme (AIP) to close the USD 30 billion annual water investment gap in Africa. 

Recognising the need to accelerate progress in closing the water investment gap in Africa, and the need to scale the AIP globally, enhance knowledge exchange, the Global Outlook Council and Global Water Investment Platform was launched as a G20 Presidential Legacy initiative.

On 13 August 2025, during the African Union-AIP Water Investment Summit in Cape Town, H.E Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa and G20 President launched the Global Outlook Council and Global Water Investment Platform, as a legacy initiative of the G20 Presidency of South Africa,

The Council will guide the transition from fragmented water investments to a coherent, coordinated and capitalised global effort through the Global Water Investment Platform (GIP).

The objective of the Council is to develop an effective global approach with actionable pathways for mobilising at least an additional USD115–140 billion annually needed to:

• Deliver universal access to safe water and sanitation through resilient water systems by 2030
• Ensure sustainable water resources
• Reduce water related risks and disasters by closing the existing global water investment gap. Annual Reports on the status of water resources will be released to contribute to the Council’s Final Report.

The Council will reinforce global collective commitment to achievement of SDG 6, Agenda 2063 and sustain political momentum on water investments beyond the Summit towards the UN 2026 Water Conference and 2030 Sustainable development Agenda.

The specific objectives of the Global Outlook Council and Global Water Investment Platform are:

• Elevate water investments as a political and economic priority across G20, COP, UN, and related regional platforms
• Mobilize public, private, and philanthropic capital toward large-scale, inclusive, and climate- resilient water infrastructure (green and grey) and management capacity
• Support African Union efforts for implementing and scaling up the Africa Water Investment Program into a Global Water Investment Platform (GIP), as a legacy initiative of the G20 Presidency of South Africa- to foster alignment of national water investment pipelines with domestic and international climate and SDG financing mechanisms worldwide
• Support coherence and collaboration among multilateral development banks, regional development banks, and philanthropic platforms
• Promote innovation, youth, and inclusiveness in water governance and investment