The Economics of Water: Valuing the Hydrological Cycle as a Global Common Good

This session will explore the intersection of water, finance, food, trade, and climate. Join Henk Ovink, Executive Director of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW) and Professor Dan Esty, Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy to discuss pathways for reshaping markets, promoting innovation, and ensuring a sustainable hydrological future for all. Srishti Singh, MEM’25 and Member of the GCEW Youth Expert Group, and Arjun Malhotra, MESc’25, will moderate the discussion.

Speaker bios:

Henk Ovink, Executive Director for the Global Commission on the Economics of Water & Former Special Envoy for International Water Affairs

Henk Ovink is the Executive Director and founding Commissioner for the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. The Commission, initiated by the Netherlands Government, was set up in May 2022 with the goal to transform the world’s understanding of the economics and governance of water, placing a much stronger emphasis on equity, justice, effectiveness, and democracy. This will complete a sustainability trilogy that began with the 2006 Stern Review on the economics of climate change, and the 2021 Dasgupta Review on the economics of biodiversity. 

Henk Ovink was the first ever global water ambassador for over 8 years, appointed in 2015 by the Dutch Cabinet as Special Envoy for International Water Affairs. In this capacity co-leading the second UN Water Conference in 2023, the first since 1977, he helped bring the world together in New York, with more than 10.000 people from every continent, background, and profession. 

Henk served on President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force where he led the long-term innovation, resilience, and rebuilding efforts. Before joining the Task Force Ovink was both Acting Director General of Spatial Planning and Water Affairs and Director National Spatial Planning for the Netherlands after multiple roles in the private sector, from his own start-up for planning, design, and innovation. 

Dan Esty, Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, Yale School of the Environment

Dan Esty is the Hillhouse Professor at Yale University with primary appointments in the Law and Environment Schools and secondary appointments in the Management and Global Affairs Schools. He is a commissioner at the  Global Commission on the Economics of Water.  He also serves as director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and as co-director of the Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance.  

He held a number of leadership roles at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1989-93 including service on the U.S. delegation that negotiated the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change. From 2011-14, Esty served as Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. 

He recently concluded two years of public leave from Yale — during which time he worked at the World Trade Organization helping WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala develop a sustainability strategy for the global trading system. He co-leads the Remaking Trade for a Sustainable Future Project and, with a network of thoughtleaders around the world, developed the Villars Framework for a Sustainable Trade System. 

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Srishti Singh

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