The Global Flood & Water Risk Summit

• What were the most relevant outcomes from COP30 on adaptation and resilience, and how are they shaping the global agenda for climate-proofing regions?
• How can the political momentum and finance commitments from COP30 be translated into region-specific adaptation strategies, particularly in the context of water-related extremes?
• What policy tools and funding mechanisms are proving most effective in addressing growing flood and water risks, and how are they being implemented across vulnerable and high-risk regions?
• What practical steps are regions taking to build long-term resilience to flooding and water stress, and how can these efforts be better supported through national policy and international cooperation?

Nanco Dolman - Lead Author of AR7 Special Report on Climate Change and Cities, IPCC, Deltares

Willem Jan Goossen - Policy Officer, DG CLIMA.E1, European Commission

Bart van den Hurk - Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II - IPCC

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• How are insurers evolving their underwriting strategies and catastrophe models in response to accelerating flood risk?
• What are the limits of insurability in areas of extreme risk? What new parametric insurance models are emerging for regions or sectors that may soon become “uninsurable”?
• What new public-private partnerships are emerging between insurers and governments to support resilient infrastructure and pre-disaster financing?
• How is the industry using climate analytics, satellite data, and AI to improve flood prediction and drive investment into adaptation rather than just payouts?

Rowan Douglas - CEO Climate Risk & Resilience, Howden
Stephanie Race - Founder & CEO, Earth Analytics Group
Amar Rahman - Global Head Climate & Sustainability, Zurich Resilience Solutions

• How do current European climate adaptation and resilience disclosure regulations address flood risk, particularly in relation to the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and national flood risk management plans?
• What challenges and gaps do regulators, companies, and investors face in disclosing flood-related exposures, adaptation strategies, and alignment with WFD objectives?
• Are existing disclosure frameworks sufficient to reflect growing flood risks due to climate change? How might they be enhanced to better capture flood adaptation measures, resilience planning, and compliance with EU directives such as the WFD?
• How do European standards for flood risk disclosure compare with global frameworks (e.g., TCFD, ISSB, SEC)?

Sudeshna Raychaudhuri - Senior Specialist, Climate - Principles for Responsible Investment

Laura Zizzo - Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Manifest Climate
Joe Ray - Head of Water, CDP

• How is coastal flooding and sea level rise disrupting both maritime operations and port infrastructure, and what are the cascading risks for global supply chains and trade-dependent economies?
• What strategies have helped ports like Rotterdam achieve world-class flood resilience, and how are these models being adapted to protect maritime and logistics systems in more vulnerable regions?
• How are investors, insurers, and regulators assessing flood risk across the full maritime-port interface, and what financing models are emerging to align decarbonisation with long-term resilience?
• Where is marine electrification advancing alongside flood-ready port design, and what integrated approaches are proving most effective in future-proofing vessels, charging systems, and coastal logistics hubs?

Organisations invite attendees to participate in intimate discussions around key challenges relating to flooding and coastal adaptation. The session will culminate in the sharing of new ideas between the delegation.

Josh Graham, Co-Founder & CEO, EHAB
Darren Clifford, Founder & Managing Director, Adapt [us] Capital

• What short and mid-term flood resilience measures are being adopted by cities facing high risk but long infrastructure timelines?
• What examples are there of adapted buildings that have saved lives and/ or money?
• In what ways are cities balancing nature-based solutions with engineered systems to build layered, flexible defenses?
• What lessons can be taken from cities like Venice, Amsterdam, and Hamburg, and what advice do actors have for other cities to implement similar strategies within their own fiscal and regulatory constraints?

Sacha Stolp - Director, Climate Adaptation, City of Amsterdam

Ellen van Bueren - Professor of Urban Development Management, Delft University of Technology

Simone Sandholz - Head of Urban Futures and Sustainability Transformation Programme, United Nations University (UNU-EHS)

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Start-up your engines! Impact-driven investors will be stationed across breakout tables, ready to meet flood and water resilience innovators. Start-ups will rotate between investors, each having 4 minutes to pitch their solution before moving to the next table.

• How are countries across the tropics, especially island nations and low-lying regions, navigating the growing impacts of water extremes including flooding, drought, landslides, and sea level rise, often within the same fragile ecosystems and communities?
• What locally led, nature-based, or Indigenous solutions are emerging to manage these overlapping risks, and how are they being scaled or adapted across tropical regions?
• What investments and policy shifts are needed to strengthen and climate-proof critical infrastructure in tropical regions, where weak systems often worsen the impacts of water-related disasters?
• How can adaptation efforts better integrate infrastructure, ecosystem protection, and community resilience to address the compound risks facing tropical countries on the frontlines of the climate crisis?

Lisbeth Zacho - Founder & Managing Partner - Nordic Impact Funds

• What are the emerging opportunities for using geospatial AI and earth observation data to support decision-making at national and local levels?
• How can actors leverage AI to improve flood forecasting and asset-level risk mapping?
• How are European-led satellite programmes like Copernicus driving flooding risk assessment and adaptation planning?
• What collaborative project between public agencies, private tech firms, and research institutions enhancing the accuracy of the data and predictions?

Steven Tebbe - Strategic Advisor, FINOS | OS-Climate Fund, The Linux Foundation

Rodrigo del Potro - Director of European Business Unit, Xcalibur Smart Mapping

Kian Mirshahi - Founder & CEO, Mayday.ai GmbH

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Start-ups will get on stage to pitch their selected solution to an audience of investors and water leaders. They will have 10 minutes each.

• What are the latest trends in cumulative investment across water-tech and flood prevention? Where are the biggest gaps?
• Who are the top investors driving capital into this industry, and what standout deals shaped the market in 2024/25?
• How is investment distributed across early-stage innovation, project deployment, and large-scale infrastructure?

Charles Bondu - Lead Adaptation Analyst, Sightline Climate

• VC’s are under pressure due to conventional VC models often misaligning with climate adaptation projects. What are the implications for innovation and innovators?
• What roles can corporate venture capital, family offices, and foundations play in filling the investment gap in this space?
• How can the investment community overcome the lack of shared language and education around climate resilience among non-traditional investors like family offices?
• What needs to change in how investors define success in resilience finance, especially when compared to mitigation-focused ventures?

Ben Tam - Isle Utilities, CEO

Darren Clifford -  Founder & Managing Director, Adapt [us] Capital

Sam Baker - Investor, Planet A Ventures

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The Netherlands is taking a significant step toward securing a resilient and future-proof river system with the launch of the Room for the River 2.0 programme. During this conversation, we look back on the success of the 1.0 programme as it relates to flood risk, and discuss the improvements and adaptations currently in consideration for the next iteration.

• 5-minute case setting
• 25-minute breakout discussion
• 20-minute feedback sharing with the audience

• What are the most acute water risks to global supply chains, and how are corporations addressing them today?
• What role are tools like climate scenario modeling, geospatial AI, or insurance partnerships playing in corporate risk reduction?
• How are corporates supporting flood adaptation for their suppliers, especially in high-risk regions?
• How are emerging regulations reshaping how they manage and disclose supply chain climate risk?

Daniel Schmitz-Remberg, Managing Director, DSR & Partners

Dr Paul Munday - Global Adaptation And Resilience Lead, S&P Global Ratings
Elisha Herrmann - Head Of Solutions- Business Applications (Worldwide), Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Format: Keynote Presentation

• How can nature-based solutions drive climate adaptation while delivering co-benefits for biodiversity, communities, and long-term resilience?
• What lessons from Generation Restoration can guide future investment and policy in ecosystem restoration?
• How is Salesforce investing in watershed protection and coastal resilience through forest and mangrove restoration?
• How do we leverage the power of AI for nature and climate?

Tim Christophersen – Vice President, Climate Action, Salesforce

• How are energy and grid operators addressing flood risks, and how are consortia like ENTSO-E shaping resilience standards across Europe?
• In what ways is the EU Energy Union strengthening cooperation and security of supply when extreme flooding disrupts national systems?
• Which advances in digitalisation, decentralisation, and storage are enabling energy assets to withstand and recover faster from flood events?
• How do floods impact renewable generation assets (offshore wind, hydro, solar) and what resilience strategies are essential to keep Europe on track for net zero?

5 start-ups will pitch their selected solution to an audience of investors and water leaders. They will have 10 minutes each.

An innovative start-up and one of their partners/ investors sits down to share learnings about scaling a novel flood resilience solution. 

• What major water challenge did the solution tackle, and what made this partnership or exit the right path forward?
• What were the pivotal moments or decisions that helped turn early traction into long-term scale or acquisition?
• How did both sides align on vision, values, and execution, and what tensions had to be managed?
• What would each company do differently next time to drive faster growth, smoother collaboration, or greater impact?

Organisations invite attendees to participate in intimate discussions around key challenges relating to flooding and coastal adaptation. The session will culminate in the sharing of new ideas between the delegation.

• What have recent major flood events revealed about preparedness, coordination, and emergency response?
• Which innovative technologies are helping to aid emergency services and save more lives?
• What strategies are in place to ensure essential services like hospitals still run during and after such events? 
• How are EU and national emergency mechanisms evolving to meet escalating risks?
• What strategies are essential for ecosystem recovery?

• What new solutions are allowing us to capture, store and preserve water during flash floods and droughts alike?
• How are businesses rethinking water as core to risk management, not just a utility input?
• How can companies partner with cities, utilities, and regulators to build circular water economies? 
• Who is funding these new projects, and which decision-makers are needed in order to implement change at the pace that’s needed?

• What are the top water risks affecting agricultural productivity in Europe today, and how are they being addressed? How are these risks already being addressed at farm and regional levels?
• What role does smart irrigation technology play in balancing water scarcity and flood risk?
• How can the EU Common Agricultural Policy or national programs better incentivise resilience, not just sustainability?
• What innovations, whether technology, finance, or farming practice, hold the most promise for Europe’s agri-food resilience over the next decade?

Emily Franklin - Senior Consultant & Project Manager, reNature

• What new models or data are helping the financial sector assess flood resilience more accurately, and how can the industry as a whole better measure and communicate the long-term financial returns of avoided flood damages?
• What financing tools, such as green bonds, resilience bonds, blended finance, are banks already using to de-risk large-scale resilience projects?
• In what ways has government funding, development banks, and philanthropy catalysed private capital for high-risk or first-of-a-kind projects?
• What lessons can be drawn from the blue economy and ocean-focused adaptation investments, which often operate outside conventional VC norms?

Émilie Bécault - Senior Manager, Subnational Climate Finance, CDP

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