World Water Week 2007, 14 August | Stockholm, Sweden

One of the key recommendations for steps forward that resulted from last year’s Workshop on “Risks and Opportunities for Financial Institutions in Water” at World Water Week was to develop a set of Water-Related Risk Management Guidelines for Financial Institutions. The idea was to provide to different types of lenders and investors a comprehensive guide on how to better assess water-related risks and identify respective opportunities both in the water sector and water-exposed businesses “downstream”. ICF International Water Markets Practice London was subsequently assigned with the development of what will be:

  • A framework for financial institutions to identify, appraise and mitigate their portfolio exposure to water-related risks through their clients and investments
  • A methodology to integrate the guidelines into existing risk appraisal processes
  • A guide to information resources on emerging sub-sector and regional water related risks and opportunities

The finalized Guidelines will be launched at UNEP FI’s Global Roundtable in Melbourne, Australia on 25 October this year. As an integral part of the drafting process, UNEP FI’s Water Workstream convened a closed, invite-only Workshop on August 15th in order give feedback to ICF International on how to develop the guidelines further in order to increase their relevance and applicability for the ultimate target audience, mainstream investors and lenders worldwide. ICF International, a Pilot Testing Committee, the broader Water Advisory Group and relevant external stakeholders came together to design the last phase of the development of the Guidelines.

Documents

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Project Timeline

17.07.2007 Submission of Draft Guidelines by ICF International
17-30.07.2007 Review of Draft Guidelines by Broader Advisory Group and feedback to ICF International.
17.07-10.08.2007 In-Depth Review of Draft Guidelines by Pilot Testing Committee and feedback to ICF International: How relevant? How applicable? How useful?
The Committee consists of:

  • Investment: ABN Amro AM Sweden; Vicsuper, Australia
  • Lending: ANZ
  • Financial Consultancy: BML Sustainable Business AB, Connexis
10.08.2007 Provision of Draft Guidelines (including the Group’s general feedback) to external, confirmed Workshop participants.
15.08.2007 Workshop
25.10.2007 Launch at UNEP FI’s Global Roundtable in Melbourne, Australia