Managing Shocks and Stressors: Water-based Adaptation for Economic Resilience
Date & Time: Tuesday, 19 November; 12-1 p.m. Baku Time (UTC +4)
Venue: Humanitarian Hub (Blue Zone, Pavilion G5a) & Online
The past two decades have seen macroeconomic shocks and stresses ranging from currency crises to a global pandemic and mortgage-backed security failures. Adding to this complexity is the emergence of climate change, whose impacts are now driving significant losses across political borders and economic sectors. While engineers and planners have made progress on de-risking particular investments, resilience has not matured into an economic objective that can help guide countries and sectors to persist and even thrive in a dynamic, evolving climate. Prevailing economic models treat water as a fixed input rather than a shared, dynamic flow, ignoring the potential systemic risks as new and unforeseen conditions emerge.
One of the insights emerging from groups such as the IPCC is that “water-based adaptation” is a strategic approach for promoting coherence, coordination, and efficacy for resilient programs, policies, and projects across sectors.
Rather than treating water as one hazard among many, we propose water as the currency for resilience in economic planning. Is economic resilience preconditioned on water resilience? This session will explore new interventions and launch a multi-stakeholder and multi-discipline discussion about solutions that meet the scope of the fragility changes we now face.
Our aim is for this session to serve as a valuable resource for macroeconomists, economic planners, central bankers, finance and development ministries, and other stakeholders involved in water management and economic resilience. It will provide insights, recommendations, and practical examples that can inform policy development and investment decisions, ensuring the long-term sustainability and resilience of economies in the face of climate change.
Speakers
Jochen Renger - Head of Department “Climate Change, Rural Development, Infrastructure,” GIZ
John Matthews - Executive Director, Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA)
Gary White - CEO & Co-Founder, Water.org
Chuck Chaitovitz - Vice President, Environmental Affairs and Sustainability, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Danielle Gaillard-Picher - Senior Advisor, International Processes and Policy, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)
Asmita Tiwari - Senior Urban and Disaster Risk Management Specialist, World Bank
Pan Ei Ei Phyoe - Global Climate and Water Policy Consultant, AGWA