A Well Running Dry: Identifying and Assessing Water-related Risk for Investors

Access to water worldwide is threatened by climate change, unsustainable natural resource exploitation, and population growth. Water intensive industries face high costs associated with water scarcity including production disruption, increased operational and fixed costs, and community conflicts. MSCI ESG Research's latest ESG Issue Report on water, "Upstream and Downstream Impacts from a Well Running Dry," indicates that the total value of sales or reserves at risk includes USD 221 billion for MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) gold miners, USD 20.7 billion for MSCI USA Investable Market Index (IMI) electric utilities, and USD 17.2 billion for MSCI ACWI steel producers. It is critical for investors to consider how exposure to water-related risks might impact business operations and, subsequently, investment portfolios.

View this recorded webinar from MSCI ESG Research and VBDO where expert water analysts will explore the geographies, industries and companies most exposed to water-related risks and the methodology behind quantifying exposure to those risks.

The discussion was moderated by Giuseppe van der Helm, Director of VBDO, and featured the following expert speakers:

• Cyrus Lotfipour, Senior Analyst, MSCI ESG Research
• Piet Klop, Senior Advisor Responsible Investment, PGGM Investments
• Dr. Peter Adriaens, CTO/COO Water Risk Analytics; Professor of Environmental Engineering and Entrepreneurship Strategy, University of Michigan