Event at the Global Renewables Hub - COP30 (Belém, Brazil) November 2025

Date & time: 10:45-11:15, Saturday 15 Nov  

Room: SDG Pavilion

Lead organiser: International Hydropower Association (IHA)

Format: Fireside chat – 30minutes

Event Contact Point: Debbie Gray

Event summary:

The climate will be become increasingly volatile with more droughts and floods. Hydropower has a dual relationship with water: it depends on water as its “fuel” and it provides the infrastructure to manage water flows. On one hand, people question whether hydropower will always be viable in the face of water scarcity. On the other hand, society benefits from the storage capacity and flood control hydropower provides.

The answer is that going forward, we will need more water infrastructure, not less. Stored water can be stored energy. Policies must focus on ensuring that these facilities are well-managed, climate resilient, and, where possible, powered. This session will explore hydropower’s role in the energy transition, as well as the best policies and tools to make it resilient. The recently-launched Hydropower Climate Resilience Guide will be cited as an industry best practice.

The session will touch on SDGs: 

• 6 - Clean Water
• 7 - Affordable and clean energy
• 8 - Decent Work and economic growth
• 11 - Sustainable cities and communities
• 13 - Climate action

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Speakers:  

Moderator: Eddie Rich, CEO, IHA

Panellist: Ramón Méndez Galain, President of REN21