Gary Hamel
World's #1 Management Thinker | Visiting Professor, London Business School | Co-Founder, MIX | Author of Humanocracy & Competing for the Future
Gonzalo Delacámara
Academic Director, IE University | Global Advisor: UN, World Bank, EU & OECD | Expert in Water Security, Climate Adaptation & Sustainability Geopolitics
Gonzalo Delacámara has advised the UN, the World Bank, the EU, and the OECD across more than 100 countries on the economics of climate change, water security, and natural resource governance. As a member of the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance, he helped shape the taxonomy now redirecting global capital. His keynotes give senior audiences the strategic frameworks to act on sustainability rather than simply report it.
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Gonzalo Delacámara biography
Gonzalo Delacámara is one of the world’s foremost economists at the intersection of natural resources, climate adaptation, and geopolitics. For over 25 years he has advised sovereign governments, multilateral institutions, financial bodies, and corporations across more than 100 countries, translating the structural pressures of climate change, water scarcity, and biodiversity loss into actionable policy and strategy. His work is not academic in the detached sense: it shapes how the EU finances its green transition, how development banks allocate capital in fragile markets, and how global corporations navigate a regulatory environment that is rewriting the rules of competitiveness.
Sustainability speaker Gonzalo Delacámara serves as Academic Director and Professor at IE University in Madrid, where he leads the Centre for Water and Climate Adaptation, a reference institution on sustainable water resource management and climate change adaptation. He is also Executive Director of Elevate Water Foundation, an international organization focused on water security as the central pillar of climate resilience. His advisory work spans the United Nations, the European Commission, the World Bank Group, and the OECD, covering regions as diverse as the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, Central and South Asia, Japan, and Australia.
Shaping the Architecture of Sustainable Finance
Until 2025, Delacámara served as a member of the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance, the body that shapes the European Union’s Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities: the regulatory framework now determining how trillions of euros in capital are classified, allocated, and reported across global markets. His contribution to that architecture places him at the precise center of the question that defines this decade for every major institution: who finances the transition, under what rules, and with what geopolitical consequences.
As a sustainability speaker, Gonzalo Delacámara brings something that policy papers and ESG consultants rarely deliver: the ability to make structural complexity legible for decision-makers. His keynotes reframe sustainability not as a compliance exercise but as a force reshaping trade, industrial strategy, financial markets, and geopolitical power. Senior executives, board members, institutional investors, and policymakers consistently describe his presentations as the clearest, most strategically useful perspective they have encountered on the subject. For organizations that need to act, not just understand, Delacámara is among the most valuable speakers available today.
Gonzalo Delacámara Speaking Videos
Global Challenges with Gonzalo Delacámara | IE University
Gonzalo Delacámara: “#Collective governance: A shared responsibility (i)” #WaterForum
Gonzalo Delacámara Keynote Topics
Climate policy, resource scarcity, and financial regulation are not peripheral developments: they are rewriting the rules of global competitiveness. In this keynote, Delacámara examines how the green transition has become an instrument of economic power, reshaping trade relations, industrial strategy, and geopolitical influence among major blocs. Drawing on his work advising governments and multilateral institutions across five continents, he gives senior audiences the analytical tools to anticipate where the next structural disruptions will emerge and how to position their organizations ahead of them.
Water stress and climate instability are among the most consistently underestimated drivers of sovereign risk, migration, industrial relocation, and financial instability. This keynote draws on Delacámara's decades of fieldwork across more than 100 countries to provide a systemic framework for understanding water security as a strategic variable: not just an environmental concern but a direct input to supply chain resilience, energy systems, and geopolitical stability. Audiences leave with practical frameworks for identifying and pricing cascading risks that conventional scenario planning tends to miss.
The most consequential shift in economic thinking of our era is the recognition that growth must be redesigned within planetary boundaries rather than pursued in spite of them. Delacámara challenges the outdated framing that treats sustainability and competitiveness as opposing forces, presenting rigorous evidence that the transition to sustainable economic models is a driver of structural innovation, productivity gains, and long-term resilience. This is a keynote for leadership teams ready to move beyond incremental ESG commitments toward genuine strategic repositioning.
Artificial intelligence is not a frictionless technology. Its data centers consume enormous and rapidly growing amounts of electricity and water, placing it in direct tension with the sustainability commitments of the organizations deploying it. In this keynote, Delacámara examines the energy and water footprints of AI infrastructure, the implications for grid stability and water-stressed regions, and the emerging geopolitical competition over the resources that make AI possible. A rigorous, evidence-based perspective that cuts through the hype and gives decision-makers a clear-eyed picture of the real constraints ahead.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Gonzalo Delacámara
Why Gonzalo Delacámara?
Booking Gonzalo Delacámara means bringing one of the few economists in the world who has both shaped global sustainability policy and can explain its strategic implications to a senior corporate audience with precision and clarity. He has advised the UN, the World Bank, the European Commission, and the OECD across more than 100 countries. He contributed to the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities, the regulatory framework now redirecting capital allocation across global markets. And he teaches at IE University, one of Europe's most respected business institutions. For boards, investor groups, and executive teams navigating ESG obligations, the energy transition, water risk, or geopolitical fragmentation, Delacámara offers frameworks that go far beyond the standard sustainability narrative. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to check availability and discuss program options.
What is the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities and why does it matter?
The EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities is a regulatory classification system that defines which economic activities qualify as environmentally sustainable under European Union law. It determines how financial institutions, corporations, and investors must report and allocate capital, and it is increasingly influencing regulatory frameworks beyond Europe. Gonzalo Delacámara served as a member of the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance, the advisory body that contributes to designing and evolving this framework. Its practical implications are significant: companies across sectors must now assess whether their activities meet taxonomy criteria to access green finance, satisfy ESG reporting requirements, and maintain investor confidence.
What is Gonzalo Delacámara's work on water security?
Water security sits at the core of Delacámara's research and advisory career. As founding director of IE University's Centre for Water and Climate Adaptation and Executive Director of Elevate Water Foundation, he has spent over two decades analyzing how water scarcity, drought, and hydrological instability interact with economic development, sovereign risk, industrial location decisions, and geopolitical stability. His work demonstrates that water stress is not a regional environmental issue but a systemic global risk with direct implications for supply chains, infrastructure investment, energy systems, and food security. He has developed policy and investment frameworks for governments and multilateral organizations on every inhabited continent.
What topics does sustainability speaker Gonzalo Delacámara cover?
Gonzalo Delacámara speaks on the geopolitics of sustainability, the economics of climate adaptation, water security and strategic risk, ESG and sustainable finance regulation, the AI and energy nexus, and the redesign of economic development models under planetary constraints. His keynotes are particularly well suited to financial institutions, multinational corporations, boards navigating ESG strategy, policy forums, and executive education programs. He presents in both English and Spanish. To explore topic options and confirm availability, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau directly.
How to book Gonzalo Delacámara as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Gonzalo Delacámara as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Gonzalo Delacámara's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Gonzalo Delacámara or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Gonzalo Delacámara speaking fee?
Gonzalo Delacámara speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Gonzalo Delacámara to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Gonzalo Delacámara.
How can I contact Gonzalo Delacámara?
We only work with Gonzalo Delacámara on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Gonzalo Delacámara and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Gonzalo Delacámara speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Gonzalo Delacámara for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Gonzalo Delacámara for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Gonzalo Delacámara is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Gonzalo Delacámara for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
