OECD at Stockholm World Water Week 2024

• Water in Business Roundtable
  9:00-11:00 CET | Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, room 36
  This Roundtable provided a space for an open and constructive discussion under Chatham House Rules on the new European Directives (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive) which are set to transform corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence. It brought together business, NGO and public sector leaders to explore how these changes can drive transparency and accountability, corporate engagement and investment in water security.
  Organisers: Government of the Netherlands, in partnership with Stockholm International Water Institute and the Valuing Water Initiative
  OECD participation: Sophie Trémolet, Water Team Lead, Environment Directorate
  
  
• Closed Roundtable on Accelerating Social Inclusion in Water
  12:00-13:50 CET | Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, room 31
  This Roundtable enabled broad discussion on how to accelerate inclusion in water across a range of different geographies and excluded groups.
  Organiser: Asian Development Bank
  OECD participation: Sophie Trémolet, Water Team Lead, Environment Directorate
  
  
• How Development Banks can mainstream Nature-based Solutions for water security
  14:00-15:30 CET | Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, A4, Level 6
  This session presented Development Banks’ experience with financing Nature-based Solutions for water security and discussed challenges and opportunities to mainstream NbS in their portfolio of water-related projects. Development Finance Institutions are increasingly interested in incorporating NbS into the mix for their investments. The session showcased what Development Banks are doing to mainstream NbS into their portfolio of water projects, presenting examples of projects incorporating NbS and discussing 1) the benefits and costs of such solutions and their broader impacts in terms of climate mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity, etc.; 2) what made these cases possible and how these experiences could be replicated in other contexts; 3) the challenges and opportunities to do more.
  Organisers: Asian Development Bank, European Investment Bank, French Development Agency, The Nature Conservancy, World Bank Group, OECD
  OECD participation: Sophie Trémolet, Water Team Lead, Environment Directorate (keynote speaker)
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• Unlocking the Financing Ecosystem for Water Security
  9:00-10:30 CET | Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, C4, Level 2
  To address the $7 trillion global water infrastructure goal by 2030, a coalition of water champions is crucial. Coordinated public, concessional, and private capital, and innovative policies, is essential to overcome decades of underinvestment. This session put a spotlight on innovative financing and fostering open public-private dialogue for water security.
  Organisers: World Bank Water, 2030 WRG, IFC, WEF
  OECD Participation: Sophie Trémolet, Water Team Lead (Speaker)
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• Cities to Sea: Transforming urban challenges into coastal opportunities
  11:00 - 12:30 CET | Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, A4, Level 6
  Urban areas are struggling under the growing weight of interconnected environmental challenges such as climate change, water security, waste management, and pollution. To address these challenges, cities must increase coordination and planning. This session highlighted how cities can participate in source to sea management for resilient economies and societies.
  Organisers: Action Platform for Source to Sea Management, Deltares, Ocean Sewage Alliance, OECD, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Stockholm International Water Institute, World Ocean Council
  OECD participation: Oriana Romano, Head of Unit, Water Governance, Blue and Circular Economy (Speaker)
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• Resilience in Economic Planning and Forecasting: Water as Currency
  14:00-15:30 CET | Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, C4, Level 2
  This session explored a novel approach for economic planning that builds around water as the currency for resilience across sectors. It examined new interventions and launched a multi-stakeholder and multi-discipline discussion about solutions that meet the scope of the fragility changes we now face.
  Organisers: Alliance for Global Water Adaptation, Government of the Netherlands, World Bank Group
  OECD Participation:
  Sophie Trémolet, Water Team Lead, Environment Directorate (Moderator)
  Lylah Davies, Policy Analyst, Water Finance, Environment Directorate (Speaker)
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• Circular, resilient, and inclusive: transforming water and sanitation service systems
  16:00-17:30 CET | Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, Room 26, Level 2
  Circular Economy (CE) principles can help make water and sanitation sectors more resilient, inclusive and efficient, while improving the financial sustainability of services. This session set out frameworks for applying CE to water and sanitation in diverse contexts, and how to incorporate them in their work by learning from real examples.
  Organisers: University of Technology Sydney-Institute for Sustainable Futures (UTS-ISF), World Bank Group, Vietnam Academy for Water Resources Institute for Water Resource Economics and Management (IWEM), UNICEF, Water for Women
  OECD Participation: Sophie Trémolet, Water Team Lead, Environment Directorate (Panelist)
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• Water in Business 3/3: Enhancing Water Security through Reporting & Due Diligence - financing a water secure world)
  14:00-14:30 CET | Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, Centre Stage, A1, Level 4
  Building on key takeaways from previous water in business panels and the water and finance roundtable convened by SIWI and the Government of the Netherlands, this panel reflected on the commitments made as well as the opportunities that the CSRD and the CSDDD present. It also focused on frank discussions on the role investors and the financial services sector can play moving forward.
  Organisers: Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), Government of the Netherlands
  OECD Participation: Lylah Davies, Policy Analyst, Water Finance, Environment Directorate (speaker)
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Recognising and strengthening the role of Indigenous territories in atmospheric moisture flows
11:00 - 12:30 CET | Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, Room 26, Level 2

The Global Commission on the Economics of Water set out to reimagine the way we value and govern water for the common good. A key finding of the GCEW is the importance of recognising green water flows and the connections between locations, with a particular focus on land-sourced atmospheric moisture flows and impacts of long-term land use change. This work is especially relevant to Indigenous Peoples and their collective role in atmospheric water flows, as many territories are important sources of water owing to their livelihoods and culture. The collective role of Indigenous governance and livelihoods in green water flows is critical but often unacknowledged in local and global policy discussions. This workshop was an opportunity for Indigenous Peoples to explore the role of Indigenous territories and livelihoods in green water flows and provide guidance on future policy direction and avenues for engagement.
Organisers: Global Commission on the Economics of Water and Stockholm International Water Institute
OECD participation: Elin Adolfsson, Global Commission on the Economics of Water
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A stable water cycle as a collective responsibility
14:00 - 15:30 CET | Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, Room: C4, Level 2
This session was designed to make the case that: a stable water cycle is a condition to deliver on our SDGs, climate and biodiversity agendas. It requires collective and transformative action at multiple scales, from local to global justice is central in the realisation of this ambition. New evidence was shared on the fact that: We are changing the source of freshwater Changes in the water cycle are having material economic impacts Water is a major, but underappreciated, source of interdependence between countries. Interdependencies are complex but create opportunities. Several stakeholders sketched collective action pathways that can contribute to transformational changes in finance, technology, trade, institutional capacities, partnerships and what we value. Illustrations covered such domains as rainfed agriculture, land use change and nature-based solutions.
Organisers: Government of the Netherlands and the OECD
OECD participation:  Elin Adolfsson, Global Commission on the Economics of Water
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SIWI Seminar Series (3/3): Water security within just planetary boundaries
09:00 - 10:30 CET | Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, Room 26, Level 2
Safe and Just Earth System Boundaries provide an adequate perspective and ambition to manage water at multiple geographical scales. This session considered whether international water laws are fit for purpose and sketched options to reform them. The session also reflected on the experience of various geographies and attempts to combine the water, biodiversity and climate agendas on the ground. Just Water Partnerships were discussed as potential instruments that can support a transition towards managing water Within Safe and Just Earth System Boundaries. In principle, they can combine the green and blue parts of the hydrological cycle, putting land use and nature conservation at the core of a just transition. Lessons from this session can inform other fora, on water and beyond.
Organisers: SIWI, OECD, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Earth Commission
OECD participation: Xavier Leflaive, Team Lead, Global Commission on Economics of Water
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