Catalysing the Water Action Agenda for Finance

UN Headquarters Side Event Conference Room 9 405 E 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 (delegates only)

20 March 2023, 17:00 ET

Moderated by: Cate Lamb, Global Director, Water Security, CDP and Xavier Leflaive, Environmental Directorate, OECD.

Join us to hear from private financiers and policy makers about the intended way forward on the global water crisis and the role of governments. The aim of this initiative is to deliver the goal of aligning trillions in financial flows with the achievement of a water secure world. This is critical in accelerating and scaling up actions to tackle the water crisis and achieve SDG 6.

Because of their reach, power and influence, financial institutions hold a key to positive change. To address global challenges of the scale and magnitude of the water crisis, we must transform how financiers assess and mitigate water risks by rewarding sustainable resource use or sanctioning resource use which is unsustainable.

To accelerate the transformation of private finance, we are developing a Finance Water Action Pathway that will define clear actions that financial institutions and other actors need to take to transform private lending, funding and investing and drive the transition to a water-secure world. The draft version of the Pathway will be launched and endorsed at this dedicated event.

We invite heads of state, financial institutions, financial regulators and central banks to learn more about the Pathway and hear from our diverse panel of experts, including keynote speaker Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Global Commission on the Economics of Water.

Agenda
17:00-17:05
Welcome Address

Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, Kingdom of the Netherlands (TBC)

17:05-17:10
Opening Remarks

Zac Goldsmith, UK Minister for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)

17:10-17:15
Keynote speech

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Global Commission on the Economics of Water

17:15-17:25
Part1: Setting the scene, purpose and value of the Finance Water Action Pathway
Unlocking the potential of the financial system to trigger transformational change

Cate Lamb, Global Director, Water Security, CDP

17:25-17:35
Finance Water Action Pathway

Rick Hogeboom, Executive Director, Water Footprint Network (WFN)

17:35-18.05
Part 2: Panel discussion
Actions for system transformation

Moderator: Xavier Leflaive, Environmental Directorate, OECD

Panellists: Adena Friedman, CEO, Nasdaq, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and others TBC

18:05-18:15
Closing remarks, launch of the Pathway and call for action

Monica Medina, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, United States Department of State