Building Financial Resilience: Integrating Water-related Risks into Central Banks & Regulatory Frameworks
Event Overview
The science is clearer than ever: climate change is impacting the water cycle, which is causing an increased frequency of droughts, floods, melting glaciers, and wildfires. Additionally, 80% of global wastewaters go back into the environment untreated, while ecosystem degradation is intensifying worldwide. These effects are already being felt by businesses and communities with disrupted supply chains, inflation, impacting water access, energy security, and food security. Water pollution and scarcity have also forced cities to ration supplies. Water-related risks are hence showing systemic consequences that extend across economies and borders, and the financial community is increasingly recognizing the severity of such risks.
In this webinar, Sophie Trémolet joins Prof. Jon Isham and Dr. Patricia Calderon, to explore how to equip financial supervisors, central banks and policymakers with a clearer understanding of how water-related risks arise and the importance of integrating them in financial stability to build resilience. The session will draw on the OECD’s report of October 2025, authored by Policy Analyst Lylah Davies, "Embedding water-related risks in financial stability frameworks", with Sophie Trémolet's bringing OECD's policy outlook.
The webinar will start off with an introduction to the BBW initiative by Professor Jon Isham, followed by the speaker’s presentation of the report. The co-host will moderate a Q&A session eventually opening it up to the audience. The webinar will conclude with closing remarks and reflections from the key speaker.
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Participants
Sophie Trémolet – Water Team Lead, OECD
Sophie Trémolet leads the Water Team within the Environment Directorate at the OECD, which advises OECD member countries and partners on water economics and finance as well as water quality challenges. Sophie joined the OECD from The Nature Conservancy, a leading nature conservation organisation, where she established the Europe freshwater programme. She had previously worked as a Senior Economist in the World Bank’s Global Water Practice and as consultant on issues of financing, institutional and regulatory reforms and private sector participation in the water sector for a broad range of clients, including development banks, NGOs, foundations and universities. Sophie earned dual Master’s degrees in Economics and International Development from Sciences-Po (Paris) and Columbia University (New York).
Jon Isham – Professor of Economics & Environmental Studies, Middlebury College
Jonathan Isham teaches on environmental policy, environmental economics, microeconomics and social change. He co-founded the Middlebury Center for Social Entrepreneurship in January 2012. He has co-edited the books “Ignition: What You Can Do to Fight Global Warming and Spark a Movement” (Island Press, 2007) and “Social Capital and Economic Development: Well-Being in Developing Countries” (Edward Elgar, 2002); published about water and sanitation and related topics in many journals including The Quarterly Journal of Economics and World Bank Economic Review, and in book chapters including Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. His current project “Whole Earth Finance” is designed to spark pragmatic solutions worldwide. Jon has an AB in Anthropology from Harvard College, an MA in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Maryland.
Dr. Patricia Calderon – Senior Water Advisor, Independent
Patricia Calderon has two decades’ experience across private sector corporates and civil society and is currently a Senior Water Advisor. As Former CDP’s Global Head of Water, she led on the organization’s water strategy as it scaled up water disclosure to record number of companies and strengthened its involvement with financial institutions. She was research lead in collaboration with Planet Tracker of the investor-focused report "High and Dry – How water issues are stranding assets (CDP, 2022)" and lead author of "Financial Institutions are Valuing Water (CDP, 2023)". She possesses earlier real-economy experience from senior roles at Veolia in Australia, the UK and Europe, where she dealt directly with industries and cities solving their challenges on water security, regulatory compliance and resilience. She holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of New South Wales in Australia.
Hosted by Beyond Bretton Woods (BBW), a think tank that challenges the current international financial architecture and proposes a radical paradigm shift to ensure a world with equitable, eco-centric, and regenerative systems that serve the interests of humanity and nature.
Sponsors
Sponsored by Global Citizen and Middlebury College