Giulio Boccaletti (born in
Modena, Italy) is a British-Italian scientist and author.[1] He is an Honorary Research Associate at the
Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.[2] He has been the Chief Strategy Officer and Global Managing Director for Water at
The Nature Conservancy[3] and was a partner of consulting firm
McKinsey & Company. Trained as a physicist and atmospheric scientist, Boccaletti has been a member of the
World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council,[4] and has served on the OECD-WWC High Level Panel on Infrastructure Financing for a Water-Secure World.[5] He is an Honorary Fellow of the Scientific Advisory Panel of the
Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change[6] and a member of the editorial advisory board of the journal Water Security.[7]
An alumnus of MIT, Princeton and Bologna universities, Boccaletti was briefly a lead author of the fifth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)[8] and has contributed to the ideas platform published by the
Edge Foundation, Inc.[9] He was featured in the
PBS series "H2O: The Molecule that Made Us".[10] His book "Water: A Biography", a history of how the distribution of water has shaped human civilisation, is published by
Pantheon Books.[11]
Career
The Nature Conservancy
Boccaletti joined
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in February 2013. In his role as Chief Strategy Officer, he worked with other members of the Executive Team to develop the organization's strategy and apply economic and scientific practice to its conservation agenda. Likewise, as the organization's Global Managing Director for Water, Boccaletti 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.[12]
Hydropower: Boccaletti has argued that if dams are better located, the same hydropower capacity could be built without damaging rivers to the same extent.[13] In 2015, TNC published a report on this called the Power of Rivers.[14]
Water funds:[15] Boccaletti has also argued in favour of water funds[16] as a means of financing the $10 trillion funding gap for water.[17] These should include investments in natural infrastructure, he has written,[18] and that investments in upstream nature conservation could improve water quality in a quarter of cities worldwide.[19] After the launch of Africa's first water fund, Boccaletti said “If we get it right, natural infrastructure may be the same story as mobile phones in Africa.”[20]
Climate bonds: In October 2015, Boccaletti called into question whether
climate bonds are sufficiently transparent on sustainability.[21]
Sustainable Development Goals: Boccaletti has been a vocal proponent of the centrality of water access and security in dealing with other social issues such as public health.[22]
McKinsey
In 2005 Boccaletti joined
McKinsey & Company where he became a partner. He co-founded the water practice and worked with businesses and governments all over the world.[23] He co-authored the “Charting Our Water Future”[24] report, one of the first to address the question of global
water scarcity through multilateral, private-public collaboration defining a cost-curve for investment in water infrastructure.[25]
Boccaletti is an acknowledged expert of the Italian musical instrument known as the
Ocarina, an ancient type of wind instrument, with a history dating back some 12,000 years. A member of the Gruppo Ocarinistico Budriese,[27] Boccaletti has played professionally both in groups and solo since 1983.[28]
Awards
Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum, 2014[29]
"Stationarity"[31] chapter in "This Idea Must Die", HarperCollins, 2014[32]
"The complex, consequential, not-so-easy decisions about our water resources" chapter in "What should we be worried about”, Harper, 2013[33]
"New Economic Frameworks for Decision Making" in "Water Security: the water-food-energy-climate nexus", The World Economic Forum Water Initiative, 2011, Island Press[34]
"Confronting South Africa's Water Challenge", 2010, McKinsey Quarterly[35]
"The Business Opportunity in Water Conservation", 2009, McKinsey Quarterly [36]
"Charting our Water Future - Economic Frameworks for Decision Making", 2009, WRG report[37]
"How IT can cut carbon emissions", 2008, McKinsey Quarterly[38]
"Smart 2020 - Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age", 2008, GeSI - The Climate Group[39]