One of the Council`s major accomplishments is its contribution to increasing awareness of global water issues and to political mobilisation through World Water Forums. Serving as stepping-stones towards global collaboration on water problems, the Forum is a unique platform where the water community and policy- and decision-makers from all regions of the world can come together, debate and attempt to find solutions to achieve water security.

In the past, the Forum has produced the World Water Vision, a unique prospective exercise on the future state of global water resources whose results were presented at the 2nd Forum, as well as the establishment of concrete actions and commitments derived from the 3rd Forum.

The Council has also played a strategic role in promoting and facilitating the establishment of dialogues on cross-cutting issues that were not sufficiently addressed, both at local levels and national levels. Key dialogues include those on Water for Food and Environment, and on Water and Climate.

In 2001, the Council raised the issue of financing to the top of its priorities by establishing the Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure, whose mandate was to look for new sources of funding for water to avoid the 2025 "water scarcity" scenario of the World Water Vision.

With the 4th World Water Forum, the Council established mechanisms for cooperation and coordination to transform global vision into concrete actions while integrating local knowledge.

The 5th Forum gave voice to the local authorities stakeholders’ who were encouraged to improve their water situation on a local level by signing the Istanbul Water Consensus, which has reached more than 1,000 signatories throughout the world.

From 2009 to 2012, political involvement though the Ministerial, Parliamentarian and local Authorities processes of the Forum has steadily increased and the Council‘s efforts have greatly contributed in raising Water higher on the political agenda.

Water is finally being acknowledged as a worldwide priority. During the 2012 Rio+20 Earth Summit, a Sustainable Development Dialogue was dedicated to Water. The Council’s aim is now to keep water on the table of high level discussions in view of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.

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