The world is increasingly turning its attention to the issue of water scarcity as many countries face water shortages as a fundamental challenge to their economic and social development. This study focuses on how, by 2030, competing demands for scarce water resources can be met and sustained. It provides greater clarity on the scale, costs and tradeoffs of solutions to water scarcity.The publication suggests the following refinements of the cost curve approach in order to help policymakers understand how to mobilise solutions:

policymakers can use the cost curve to understand the financial trade-offs implied by different levels of commitment to tackle such implementation barriers
policymakers can construct scenarios to assess the impact of policy decisions on water demand which calls for them knowing how a country’s projected water supply-demand gap would change when specific policy measures are enacted, or if greater-than expected economic growth is achieved
a 'payback curve' can be developed to quantify the economics of adoption for end-users because it shows how long it will take for an investment to bear fruit, allowing comparison with the end user’s expectations.

The report finally outlines pathways forward for the following specific private sector players who can contribute to water security solutions:

agricultural producers and value chain players – the magnitude of the potential impact of water and food challenges should motivate farmers, value-chain players and policymakers to jointly address their implementation
financial institutions – water has suffered from chronic underinvestment and financial institutions are likely to be important actors since the cost curves provide them with transparency on the financial costs 
large industrial water users who face both a water and an energy challenge should benefit from the transparency provided by the supply and demand analysis and cost curves
technology providers could play a major role in closing the supply-demand gap by scaling-up existing technologies for expanded production while taking advantage of the framework provided by the cost curves
the construction sector will need to continue delivering large-scale infrastructure.to contribute to water security.