In addition to having been a lead author of the fifth Assessment Report to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Giulio Boccaletti was Chief Strategy Officer and Global Managing Director for Water at The Nature Conservancy, where he led a team of over 200 freshwater scientists, policy experts, economists and on-the-ground conservation practitioners, promoting action on water issues by governments and businesses.

Earlier in his career, he was a partner of consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where he co-founded the water practice and worked with businesses and governments around the world. He trained at MIT, Princeton and Bologna University in Physics and Atmospheric Science. His book, WATER: A Biography, was published in Sept. 2021 by Pantheon Books. We spoke with him in England on October 15.

Articles referenced or pertinent to this interview:

He’s Got a Plan for Cities That Flood: Stop Fighting the Water https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/climate/sponge-cities-kongjian-yu.html

Lobbyist for Saudi Alfalfa Company Desiccating Arizona Was Elected to Maricopa County Board of Supervisors https://theintercept.com/2022/11/28/maricopa-supervisors-saudi-lobbyist-thomas-galvin/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The%20Intercept%20Newsletter

Spring time: why an ancient water system is being brought back to life in Spain https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/11/ancient-water-system-restore-spain-sierra-nevada-aoe

Flooding could shut down a quarter of all critical infrastructure in the U.S. https://www.axios.com/flood-risk-united-states-critical-infrastructure-a8703d5b-8d95-4584-8bc3-4ea086b83cfa.html

Slow water: can we tame urban floods by going with the flow? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/07/slow-water-urban-floods-drought-china-sponge-cities

China floods: Nearly 2 million displaced in Shanxi province https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58866854

Joe Manchin’s Climate Objections Opposed by BP and Shell https://www.newsweek.com/joe-manchin-build-back-better-clean-energy-joe-biden-bp-shell-1640230

As Manchin Blocks Climate Plan, His State Can’t Hold Back Floods https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/17/climate/manchin-west-virginia-flooding.html

It’s easy to feel pessimistic about the climate. But we’ve got two big things on our side https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/15/climate-crisis-cop26-bill-mckibben

The Climate Disaster Is Here https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2021/oct/14/climate-change-happening-now-stats-graphs-maps-cop26

Corporations are pledging to be ‘water positive’. What does that mean? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/14/water-positive-pledge-corporations

The Lost Canyon Under Lake Powell https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/16/the-lost-canyon-under-lake-powell