Water, Water... Everywhere? : Water Security in the Age of AI, Climate Change, and Planetary Stewardship
Water is one of the defining strategic resources of the twenty-first century. Although it covers more than 70 percent of the planet, access to clean, reliable, and affordable freshwater is becoming increasingly uncertain for governments, businesses, and communities.
Climate change is disrupting rainfall patterns, accelerating glacier loss, depleting aquifers, and intensifying cycles of drought and flooding. At the same time, the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence, data centers, semiconductor manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and energy production is placing greater pressure on already strained freshwater systems.
This executive roundtable will bring together perspectives from science, technology, Indigenous leadership, policy, oceans, infrastructure, and climate resilience. The discussion will consider water not only as an environmental resource, but as critical infrastructure and an economic, geopolitical, technological, cultural, and human security priority.
The conversation will explore:
• How climate change is reshaping the global water cycle, economies, agriculture, infrastructure, and migration
• The relationship between AI, cloud computing, data centers, and freshwater demand
• Water-efficient approaches to digital infrastructure and the measurement of water footprints
• The role of oceans in climate regulation, biodiversity, fisheries, coastal resilience, and the blue economy
• Indigenous knowledge systems grounded in stewardship, intergenerational responsibility, and community-led conservation
• The challenges facing small island nations and frontline communities, including rising seas, saltwater intrusion, deep-sea mining, and water scarcity
• Policy frameworks, reporting standards, public-private partnerships, and international cooperation for responsible water governance
The roundtable will examine how governments, businesses, researchers, civil society, and Indigenous communities can work together to ensure that technological and economic progress strengthens—rather than compromises—planetary resilience.
Speakers
Join us for a cross-sector conversation about protecting the resource upon which every economy, ecosystem, and community depends.