Posted on September, 20 2019

The Water Summit 2019 is a unique event on the global financial and water calendars. Targeted at CEOs and CFOs of financial institutions as well as companies that depend on water as an input in their products, processes and supply chains, the summit looks at water from an investment perspective.
Building on the success of the 2018 Water Summit in London, which brought together 29 global Leading Speakers and 185 participants, including 85 C-Suite delegates, this year’s highly anticipated event is supported by AB InBev and the global Valuing Water Initiative and will be hosted by the Deutsche Borse in Frankfurt on November 18 and will focus on the business and investment risks and opportunities linked to water and climate change.

There is a growing understanding that climate-related risks go beyond exposure to fossil fuels and that the financial impacts of the climate crisis will primarily come through water. But current approaches to climate related financial risks are not handling water well, and current approaches to water are not handling climate risks well.

This year’s summit will highlight the need for financial institutions to adopt a new approach to water – one that incorporates a stronger approach to risk management while also supporting enhanced opportunities to mobilize debt and equity to invest and profit from the need for more resilient societies and economies.

The 2019 Summit will also focus on the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and how it needs more tools that can help with water-related scenarios and that can translate risks into financial impacts. Current ESG approaches do not take into account the contextual dimensions of water Therefore the summit will also look at new, more robust approaches to integrate adaptation to climate change and account for risk, response and opportunity.

With water stress increasing, the Water Summit 2019 will provide investors and corporate leaders with another perspective – showing how investing in climate and water smart opportunities can waterproof their businesses and assets, contribute to climate resilience, enhance the health of freshwater ecosystems, and boost progress towards achieving SDG6 (Water for All) – a target many of the world’s leading companies have signed up to.

Registration:

Places at the Summit are limited, so if you want to attend, please register as soon as possible using this link

Draft Agenda for Water Summit (November 18)

 
9.30   Registration & Coffee
 
10.15   Welcoming remarks
Dr. Joachim Faber, Chair of Board, Deutsche Börse
Eberhard Brandes, CEO, WWF Germany 
 
10.30   Opening Keynote Address – Climate crisis: Water is the biggest risk but also the greatest opportunity
German Minister or CEO of FI (TBC)
 
10.45   The Water Challenge – How water impacts your business and investments
Shalini Unnikrishnan, Managing Director and Partner, BCG
 
11.05   Keynote Address – Shifting financial flows for freshwater: new approach to managing risk & seizing opportunities
Monika Beck, DEG CEO (TBC)
 
11.20   Panel discussion – Waterproofing investments as the climate changes: risks and responses
Sasja Beslik, MD, Head of Sustainable Finance Dev, J. Safra Sarasin
Susan Goeransson, Director, Head of Infrastructure Europe, EBRD
Yannick Ouaknine, Head of Sustainability Research, Société Général
Piet Klopp, Senior Advisor Responsible Investing, PGGM
Pierre Rousseau, Strategic Advisor Sustainable Business, BNP Paribas
Moderated by Margaret Kuhlow, WWF Global Finance Practice Leader
  
12.00   Keynote Address – Investing in digital solutions for enhanced resilience, access and affordability
Patrick Decker, CEO, Xylem
 
12.15   Keynote Address – Banking on private finance: transforming funding for climate adaptation
Peter van Mierlo, CEO, FMO
 
12.30   Panel discussion – Funding the gap: how private sector investments in water and climate adaptation make business sense
Andrew Johnstone, CEO Climate Fund Managers
Sylvia Wisniwski, Managing Director, Finance in Motion
Tom Butler, CEO, International Council on Mining & Minerals
Stuart Orr, Global Freshwater Lead, WWF
Ulrike Sapiro, Global Director, Water & Sustainable Agriculture, The Coca-Cola Company
 
Moderated by Callie Stinson, World Economic Forum
  
13.15   Networking Lunch

14.15   How do Water Stewardship thinking and Climate Change guide our investments
Maurizio Paternello, CEO, Nestlé Waters
Interviewed by Editor, Reuters Breakingviews
 
14.35   Panel discussion – Transforming how water is valued in business and investment policies and practices to build climate resilience
Monika Freyman CFA, Director, Investor Engagement Water
Philippe Prufer, CEO, SKP Investors
Andre Fourie, Global Water Director, ABInbev, 
Kim Hellstrom, Strategy Lead, Climate & Water, H&M 
 
Moderated by Henk Ovink, International Water Envoy, Dutch Government
 
15.15   Panel discussion: What influence will the EU Sustainable Finance Action and TCFD have on water related sectors?
Shelagh Whitley, Director ESG, UN PRI
Thibaud Clisson, Senior ESG Analyst, BNP Paribas 
Chris Holmes, Senior Advisor, Boston Consulting Group
Dr Eduoard Perard, Senior Economist, Water, EIB
Thomas Verheye, Principal Advisor Green Finance & Investment, EC
 
Moderated by Kristina Jeromin, Head of Group Sustainability, Deutsche Borse
  
16.00   Introduction to Watershed Moments
Small group tables highlighting investment opportunities, innovations, solutions. In this session, our delegates join small break-out discussions for more in-depth conversations about the topics that matter most to them.
 
Delegates choose one discussion to join, from the topics outlined below:
 
Table 1 – Game-changing opportunity for private finance: Dutch Fund for Climate & Development (DFCD)
How investors can seize the opportunities presented by €160 million DFCD
 
Hosted by Andrew Johnson, CEO Climate Fund Managers
Aaron Vermeulen, WWF Green Finance Lead
 
Table 2 – WAVE: Water and Valuation module within the Water Risk Filter
Brand new valuation module and expanded response toolkit means the Water Risk Filter now enables companies & investors to explore their water risk, estimate value and respond to operational and reputational risk
 
Hosted by Ariane Laporte-Bisquit, Water Risk Filter Lead
 
Table 3 – Valuing Water Initiative: Initial investments
The Valuing Water Initiative (VWI) will demonstrate the practical application of the UN Valuing Water Principles through projects in different water value chains and sectors. VWI will use its convening power and access to heads of state, governments, businesses, NGOs and water experts to bring the systemic change required to understand, value and manage water
 
Hosted by Ambika Jindal, VWI Global Project Lead
Table 4 – The new Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standards 2.0
Water risk can manifest itself in a variety of ways depending on sector and geography as well as other factors. The updated AWS Standard provides a common framework for business and investors to assess and respond to water risk, and to identify opportunities for value creation.
 
Hosted by Scott McCready, Director of Engagement, AWS
 
Table 5 – EU financial regulations: taking water seriously? 
 
Table 6 – Starting at the Source: how to introduce water into your decision making
Hosted by Jan Oltmanns, BCG
 
Table 7 – Blended finance toolbox
Hosted by Sophie Zielcke, BCG
 
Table 8 – Climate is Water: How climate change will increase water risk
Hosted by Andre Fourie, AB InBev 
 
16.45   Closing Address – Investing in the Climate and Water World We Want
Pavan Sukhdev, WWF International President
 
17.00   Chair’s closing remarks
17.15   AB InBev drinks reception