We cannot protect our marine ecosystems without addressing our terrestrial watersheds, and that requires new market driven approaches.
According to the United Nations, a staggering 80% of global municipal and industrial wastewater is currently discharged entirely untreated straight into rivers and streams, flowing directly into coastal estuaries and choking marine life. If we want to save the oceans, we must improve terrestrial WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) infrastructure. To fund it at scale, we must enable private capital to flow more readily into water infrastructure - which is possible through the financialization of water data.
There are many institutions focused on improving terrestrial WASH infrastructure. Private philanthropic foundations and non-profits spend an estimated $450 million to $600 million annually on cross-border international aid for WASH infrastructure. The tragedy of traditional international aid isn't a lack of generosity. On the contrary, extraordinary generosity and impact fuel much of the world’s water infrastructure where it is needed most. The issue is a lack of ongoing cash flow. Global non-profits are highly effective at raising charity dollars to clear the initial capital expense (CapEx) of building wells and sanitation systems. But once the ribbon is cut, the clock starts ticking.
30% to 50% of new water projects globally collapse within just a few years of construction.
At any given moment, 30% to 40% of all handpumps and water points in Sub-Saharan Africa are completely broken and non-functional, representing over $1.2 billion in lost investment over the last two decades.
Why? Because the region often lacks the financial capacity to pay for ongoing Operations & Maintenance (O&M). When a $50 pump seal tears, a wastewater filter clogs, or a solar inverter fails, there is no cash to fix it. Despite the most earnest desires., communities often find they do not have the resources to finance the necessary fixes. The project is therefore abandoned, leaving the community with several tough options - either walk incredible distances daily for water, or be forced back to contaminated surface water, and untreated waste resumes its journey to the ocean. We need solutions that shift the capital stack such that communities globally can, not only receive the needed initial infrastructure, but support the ongoing costs to operate them.
Kreneon takes at-source, verified water production data and creates digital, standard market assets. By creating water assets on WASH infrastructure, Kreneon enables the market to behave differently. Rather than a $1M donation by a corporation to a water project, that same $1M can be applied to Kreneon water assets as a Water Purchase Agreement (WPA) - guaranteeing the purchase of a volume of water at a set price for some period of years into the future. This shift, while seemingly non-consequential, actually unlocks many favorable attributes. A few are:
The initial plant can be financed on more favorable terms because the future revenue has been de-risked. The plant can also be insured.
It incentivizes the plant operator to lower costs because their opportunity for increased margins is through efficiency and cost reduction.
It incentivizes the plant operator to increase the production efficiency of the plant to generate more volume to increase their revenue above the WPA volume commitments.
It incentivizes the WPA purchaser or benefactor to consume less water, as they can now sell their excess supply on an open market.
It enables water credit formation to subsidize ongoing O&M costs.
But most fundamentally, it establishes a market price and ongoing revenue stream to fund the O&M of the plant.
From a historical perspective, I cannot find an example of equitable distribution among the rich and poor when scarcity of a resource exists. (Please share if you can think of an example! ) When there is scarcity, the powerful and wealthy have the means to pay for what they want —leaving the vulnerable to bear the brunt of the shortage. Scarcity inherently means those with capital win.
Kreneon intends to break the scarcity cycle entirely. By created an financialized asset out of water, a broad spectrum of market participants can fund infrastructure all over the world. Kreneon's intention is that by commodifying water - we will enable sustainable development globally. See our Pledge. Market solutions to real and immediate human and policy challenges.
By enabling the creation of financialized assets and their derivatives on water, we are creating the market infrastructure to accelerate and sustain the amazing work that is happening today. We are building a market infrastructure that will help stop the flow of upstream pollution into our global oceans. So as we pause to reflect on the state of our oceans for World Oceans Day, it's time to realize that saving the seas starts by changing the economics of the water upstream.
Sources:
The Statistic: 80% of global municipal and industrial wastewater is currently discharged entirely untreated straight into rivers and streams.
The Sources: * United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): UN World Water Development Report, Wastewater: The Untapped Resource. UNEP Publication Architecture.
The Statistics: 30% to 40% of handpumps/water points in Sub-Saharan Africa are non-functional at any given moment, representing a $1.2 Billion loss in wasted investment over the past two decades.
The Sources:
The World Bank & Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN): Systemic data tracking the structural abandonment of rural water points and the capital drain of untracked assets. As compiled in How Do You Solve a Problem Like a Broken Water Pump? via The Guardian Global Development Archive.
The Statistic: The operational gridlock concerning utility funding deficits, the lack of resources for Operations & Maintenance (O&M), and tracking climate-resilience gaps.
The Sources:
World Health Organization (WHO) & UN-Water: Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) 2025/2026 Report: State of Systems for Drinking-Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. UN-Water GLAAS Data Portal.