Water scarcity is not the only challenge
Eliza Roberts from Ceres has closed today’s water debate with an important point:
Water scarcity is not the only challenge. Water pollution is another huge contributor to the increasing pressures we are seeing. Each year, millions of tons of fertilizer run off into waterways, polluting rivers and groundwater and leading to dead zones like the Gulf of Mexico, an area the size of Connecticut that is literally devoid of life.
[...] Through careful evaluation of risks, establishing corporate policies and codes and sustainable sourcing goals, and providing educational and financial support on the ground to farmers, companies can play a huge role in helping to improve on-farm practices and protect freshwater for future generations.
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Water and climate change
As Galvin from CDP points out, water issues are closely connected to climate change:
As the entry into force of the Paris Agreement looks ever more likely to happen this year, companies will be expected to ramp up their decarbonization efforts. What more need to understand is that efforts to address water security can bring co-benefits in the form of GHG savings.
For example, Mars reports working with farmers in the Mississippi Delta to use alternate wetting and drying (AWD), an irrigation technique that reduces both water use and GHG emissions with little or no impact on yields. And Lockheed Martin told us that as a result of replacing a chiller, they cut US$77,000 in electrical costs, 800 metric tons of carbon emissions and 8% of its water usage annually in its site in Maryland.
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Internal buy-in
Aaron Burton from Waterwise says:
It is worth noting that the water footprint approach can be useful to gain buy-in not just for supply chain issues but also as the first impetus to look at a company’s own water use as it is framed similarly to carbon and wider CSR issues.
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Recognising the value of water
Galvin, Fourie and Sansom all agree that some of the biggest challenges to water security stem from a lack of appreciation of the value of water.
For those who will be at World Water Week in Stockholm, join the Guardian Sustainable Business team plus John Vidal (Guardian environment editor) and Andre Fourie from SABMiller to debate how to determine the value of water. Full event info here.
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Prioritising is key
From picking which crops to focus on to focusing on particular regions where certain commodities or supply chain components come from, several panellists have made the point that prioritising is key.
Ashok Chapagain from the Water Footprint Network says:
The smaller the supply chain, the easier it is to address the issue. We’ve worked with global retailers sourcing, for example, cane sugar from farms located in more than 200 different river basins around the world. It is a challenge to act efficiently unless you prioritise regions in a logical order.
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Engaging suppliers on water management
According to Dexter Galvin from CDP, there’s no silver bullet when it comes to supplier engagement:
I think it starts with data - the less sophisticated suppliers will benefit from understanding their impact areas and will benefit from hearing from their customers that this is important. Then it is about how you use the data. Many of our members integrate it into purchasing decisions - Dell has a requirement that key suppliers report on water management through CDP. L’Oreal teach their buyers how to discuss water with suppliers. Finally collaboration is king: not just customer/supplier but also supplier/supplier.
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Where do consumers fit in?
The question of how - or even whether - to engage consumers is an interesting one. Jess Sansom from Innocent Drinks says:
We have found that the amount of consumers that are actually making their final purchasing decision based on environmental or ethical concerns is very low. We could spend an enormous of time and money turning our water data into a consumer friendly format, but it not likely to be the best use of our budget for water. We focus our spending on realising projects on the ground with farmers... It is what we believe will be the biggest driver for change.
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Africa, droughts and groundwater
For those interested in the topic of agriculture and water use in Africa, check out our recent article on the controversial topic of the potential of groundwater to alleviate water stress:
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Supply chain water monitoring
Andre Fourie from SABMiller points out that there’s a significant difference between a company addressing its own water use versus that used across a supply chain:
The big challenge for FMCG companies remains to understand and monitor water use in the supply chain. A water footprint analysis provides a great snapshot and a place to start
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Recognising water risks versus planning for them
Eliza Roberts from Ceres says:
While more and more companies recognize the risks that water poses to their bottom line, we found [in a Ceres report released last year called Feeding Ourselves Thirsty] that only 30% of the companies evaluated considered water risks as a part of major business planning and investment decision-making. Furthermore, 2/3 of the food companies are not evaluating water risks in their agricultural supply chains, where the vast majority of water use and risks lie.
One key step for companies – particularly those that are just beginning their water stewardship journey- is to conduct a risk assessment of their entire value chain to understand their exposure and use that insight to develop an appropriate response.
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Innocent Drinks app wins Guardian award for helping farmers reduce water use
While the panellists get going with our first question about companies monitoring and reducing water use, check out our article about the Innocent Drinks app that won the Guardian Sustainable Business water award 2016
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Submit a question for the panel
You can send questions in advance by emailing tess.riley@theguardian.com or tweeting @GuardianSustBiz using the hashtag #AskGSB
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The panel
Aaron Burton, director of projects and programmes, Waterwise
Ashok Chapagain, science director, Water Footprint Network
André Fourie, head of water security and environmental value, SABMiller
Dexter Galvin, head of the supply chain programme, CDP
Eliza Roberts, manager of the water programme, Ceres
Jessica Sansom, head of sustainability, Innocent Drinks
Moderator - Tess Riley, deputy editor, Guardian Sustainable Business
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What we'll be discussing
Food, clothing, electrical goods, energy – everything we use and consume has a hidden water footprint.
China imports around 30m tonnes of soybeans per year from the US. As each tonne needs about 2,000 cubic meters of water to produce, China is also importing billions of cubic metres of virtual (or embedded) water.
While China can benefit from importing water intensive crops, the global trade in virtual water poses a threat to drought prone countries such as India. And rising demand for water – especially from the food, clothing and manufacturing sectors – is putting further strain on global resources.
Some businesses have been trying to map and manage their embedded water. Clothing company C&A calculated the water footprint of its cotton products in an attempt to reduce water use. A similar exercise at Tata Motors looked at the company’s local water impact to understand how it was contributing to local water stress. But is enough progress being made?
Join a panel of experts on Tuesday 23 August, 1-2pm (BST), to discuss how companies are addressing virtual water in their supply chains and what progress is being made to reduce the amount of water they use.
Questions we will explore include:
- How can companies monitor and reduce water use?
- How can they engage their suppliers in more sustainable water management?
- What are the hurdles to better water practices and how can these be overcome?
- What policies have helped companies cut the amount of water they use?
- What is the role of technology in helping reduce water consumption?
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How to join in the discussion
Make sure you’re a registered user of the Guardian and join us in the comments section below, which will open on the day of the live chat.
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