DP: Water Crisis

On my first blog I discussed the importance of water conservation and how I became interested in the topic. I also discussed how collaborative work among governments, academics, industries, and organizations is essential to solving the water crisis. This blog will take a closer look at water security through the public–private partnership and their initiatives to solving the water challenge.

Taking a closer look at history, there is evidence that water scarcity has always been an issue that was answered by trade and commerce. Dry lands would import their supply from those regions that could supply. Today, water stress remains just as prevalent. A 2009 study by McKinsey & Company shows that in the next two decades the collective demand for water will be 40% higher than available supply. As the earth gets hotter and more populated, water shortages will impact life, as we know it, in many different ways. With more people to be fed, more food would need to be produced, therefore more water would be required in the agriculture industry; 70% of current freshwater withdrawals is already used for this purpose. The same goes for growing economies that depend on water for producing the energy used for industrial and urban development.  Any significant change in one sector can affect the others. For instance, in order to stop climate change, renewable energies are becoming more dominant, especially hydroelectric power that relies on freshwater. By 2030 hydroelectric power will be able to provide more than twice the amount of energy of their nearest rival, on-shore wind farms. However, this clashes with the agriculture sector because they would essentially both be fighting for the same resources. The nexus between water and development, economic growth, energy, climate change, and food is indubitable. Clearly, we need to steer away from the business-as-usual approach and look for a comprehensive economic analysis of the water challenge.

WATER-BUSINESS

Water security is an issue that will rise gradually, directly affecting different regions in the world causing a widespread of collateral damage. Currently, it is felt at a local level, which some governments lack resources and are too weak to deliver results and hence depend on private sector. Water will be a core part of global, national, and business agenda in the future. For this reason it is essential for business to take part in some way. Back in 2008 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Kloster, the idea of water as a strategic issue for business was brought up and discussed for the first time. At the meeting, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon encouraged private-sector engagement and said “ business is becoming part of the solution, not the part of the problem” when addressing water challenge. It was in this meeting where Secretary-General also introduced the UN Global CEO Water Mandate, “a public-private initiative designed to assist companies in the development, implementation, and disclosure of water sustainability practices and policies.” This year at the World Water Week conference in Stockholm, the UN released a Corporate Water Disclosure Guideline that “offers a common approach to disclosure, putting forward metrics that can begin to harmonize practice and also providing guidance to help companies define report content.” Hopefully, these approaches will further tackle the lack of transparency that can be found on the economics of water resources.

The World Economic Forum also introduced a Water Initiative that brought together different corporations to raise awareness on water issues, to help develop new analytics, and to promote public-private partnership. Some of the thirteen companies who joined are: Cisco Systems, Nestle SA, PepsiCo, Rio Tinto, SABMiller, Uniliver, and The Coca-Cola Company. This initiative was supported by governmental organizations including US Agency for International Development and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Each of these companies has dedicated time and money into creating different initiatives and programs within their organizations to build awareness and develop solutions for the water crisis.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has also been tackling the water crisis for over a decade now and has had several important outcomes. Two of these are the Global Water Risk Mapping Tool and the Water Programme Leadership Group, which groups companies like: Accenture, DuPont, IBM, ITT, PepsiCo, Siemens, and Unilever.  The Global Water Tool “ helps companies and organizations map their water use and assess levels of corporate risk across their global operations and supply chains.”  Graham Mackay, CEO of SABMiller explains that “leading businesses have put in place water strategies with challenging efficiency target, however, water scarcity is a complex issue and acting alone is not enough.” This is why working with NGOs and other stakeholders to gain improved insight into local water resource risks and developing new partnership models to provide solutions is essential to solving the problem’

A quick-look- PepsiCo:

In September of 2010, PepsiCo released a Water Stewardship document that acknowledges the enormity of the water crisis and the companies approach to “positive water balance in operations in water-distress areas and provide access to safe water to three million people in developing countries by 2015.”  This will be achieved by minimizing the impact that current businesses have on the environment and by collaborating with industry peers, governments, academia, nongovernmental organizations and communities. PepsiCo has partnered with numerous organizations to help solve the problem “by constantly looking within its operations to identify solutions to make it a more water-efficient company; and then reaching out into their value chain by seeking ways to help their business, suppliers, community partners find ways to use less water more efficiently.”

A former colleague of mine, Dan Bena the previous Director of Sustainable Development for PepsiCo and currently a Board member of the US Water Alliance, discusses sustainable water practices for a global corporation on a podcast hyperlinked to his name.

Also see: The Changing face of Water Stewardship: It’s about much more than philanthropy.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut solution for solving the worldwide water challenge.  The solution will be dependent on many different aspects: political, cultural, geographical, etc. It’s evident, however, that all sectors must work together to reach the common goal. A long-term goal needs to put in place and practical steps need to be taken from an individual level to organizations. I specifically believe that businesses will be the key to making much of this work because they have the financial support to create and establish the changes that are needed both within and outside of the company.

Whether a company chooses the CEO Water Mandate for endorsement or chooses to join the Water Leadership Group of the WBCSD, it is clear that collaboration is crucial to succeed in its search for solving, or at least diminishing, the water crisis.

For further reading, I recommend Water Security.

Below is the video of the World Economic Forum discussing a comprehensive first look at “Water Security: The Water- Food-Energy-Cimate Nexus”

Click here to view the embedded video.

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