Company efforts to improve
transparency in shared
water risk
Aquatech
May 7th 2014
Hannah Greig
What is the WBCSD?
A CEO-led coalition of some 200 companies with a shared commitment to sustainable
development via the three pillars of economic growth, ecological balance and social progress.
Today
• Increasing business participation in reducing shared water risk
• Developing an India Water Tool v1
summary of progress
challenges and success’
• India Water Tool version 2
next steps and timeline
Increasing business participation in reducing shared water risk (I)

63% of respondents to CDP 2013 water
questionnaire set concrete targets or goals
for their direct operations.
 Companies that continue with such a
narrow focus could be missing potential
opportunities and overlooking serious
risks.
 Water crisis and extreme weather
events are among the top ten global risks of
highest concern according to the WEF
Global Risks Report 2014.
 Respondents’ water stewardship
activities must be stepped up to mitigate risks
to their companies and investors.
CDP Global Water Report 2013
Increase business participation in reducing shared water risk (II)
Shared risks = shared opportunities = shared responsibilities
 Reduce risks of business disruption
 Ensure business continuity over time
 Contribute to government & community efforts in countries of operation
Phase I: Company-wide water risk
assessment to determine business value
at risk & identification of most at risk
areas
E.g. resources/experts
WRI Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas
WBCSD GWT & sector customization/GEMI LWT
WBCSD India Water Tool
WWF Water Risk Filter
WBCSD Guide to water valuation
AWS, EWS and others
OECD Water Governance Principles
Good water governance for mgmt & allocation
Phase II: Development of
comprehensive water strategy,
including local action plans
Action by business
 B2B dialogues and transferability to SMEs
 Water use efficiency across agri supply
chain
 Water treatment & reuse
 Investment in natural water infrastructure
 Access to WASH
Climate change impacts & resilience
Phase III: Implementation of water
stewardship strategies at enterprise &
local level; action outside the fence line
with other users in the watershed
India Water Tool v1 and v1.1
Scoping and data
• 14 companies
• WBCSD part
time
coordinator
• Columbia Water
Centre (India)
data inventory
• Data collation
• Data formatting
Version 1 – July
2013
• 1,500
downloads in 6
weeks
• CGWB +
RAMSAR data
• India-specific
outputs
• CDP and GRI
metrics
• Case studies
published
Version 1.1 –
September 2013
• Additional
ground water
level data sets
(better
granularity)
• DJSI and
Bloomberg
metrics
Working group
Challenges
Source: CGWB
DATA!
Source: CWC
Source: River basin atlas of India, CWC and ISRO,
2012
Source www.indiaenvironmentportal.co.in
Results
 IWTv1 and 1.1 released - helps Indian industry
assess it’s water risk and prioritize sites for
further action
 Demonstrated Indian business can collaborate
and show leadership in tackling water issues
 Credibility and access with other data providers
for the next version
 Good relationships with key Government
agencies (CGWB, India WRIS)
IWT v1.1 How does it work?
Input location
info for each
site and
supplier in India
To produce excel tables and graphs
Number of sites in each
CGWB categorization of
blocks
Number of sites
where water
quality standards
are breached
And Google Earth maps for all Indian operations
Input water data for each site
Terminology based on
GRI terms and
definitions
To generate CDP, GRI, DJSI and Bloomberg metrics
How are people using the tool?
•
PRIORITZE: Get overview of site and supply chains
- How many of my sites are in over-exploited or critical areas?
- What % of my production is in over-exploited or critical areas?
- Is my site in an area where the ground water level is rising or declining?
- What have been the highest and lowest ground water levels in my area in the last 5 years?
- Which of my sites are in areas where the concentration of inorganic contaminants (fluoride,
chloride, nitrate, salinity, arsenic) in ground water is above permissible limits for drinking
water? And what % of my production takes place in areas where there are these breaches?
- How many of my sites are located in or near RAMSAR protected areas
•
INTERNAL DECISION MAKING PROCESSES: prioritize funding
•
ADVISING CLIENTS ON POTENTIAL RISKS: consultancy (India, US)
Development of version 1 as much about the process as the outcome.
Publicity, momentum and the power of
demonstration..
 19 companies participated in scoping
for version 2.
 More data sets available
 More potential partners
Version 2 – needs and priorities
(identified July 2013 workshop)
Understand water stress at site
level and impact of company
in the location
• More comprehensive picture of
stress/scarcity (include
precipitation, surface water etc)
• More comprehensive picture of
water quality
• Competing demands in the
watershed
• Physical risk
Promote greater transparency
with stakeholders
• Government and regulators
• Engage supply chains
• Engage competing users in a
watershed
• Allow sectoral benchmarking
IWT v2
By December 2014 develop, test and launch a version 2 with supporting
materials
 A more holistic picture of the water situation (including water stress)
 Measure and map organisation’s water risk in India at a meaningful scale to
identify their most at-risk areas
 Outputs credible to industry and Indian government entities - engages
Government of India as part of the process
 Developed in collaboration with CII Triveni Water Institute and World
Resources Institute, Columbia modelling* - moves towards greater
compatibility with other water risk tools for future convergence.
*TBC
IWT v2: New data for inclusion
•
•
•
•
•
•
Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) groundwater data updates
India Meteorological Department rainfall data
Central Pollution and Control Board surface and ground water quality data
Central Water Commission runoff and discharge data.
Aqueduct global map "cut-outs" for India showing current and future water
stress (2010, 2020, 2030, 2040) and any other indicators on the Aqueduct
platform;
Columbia Water Centre’s district water stress index (TBC)
IWTv2 working group
Advisory board of experts
Sub groups
Reporting
and
standards
Water
quality
Ground water,
surface water
and rainfall
Water
modelling
Agriculture
Water
withdrawal
Stakeholder
outreach
IT Platform
IWT v2: value for working group members
•
Shape the development of the tool and create a credible platform for
dialogue with other users in your watersheds
•
Demonstrates leadership on water issues and make a tangible and timebound contribution to addressing the water challenge in the country.
•
Direct engagement with Government agencies on water – changing the
dynamics of the relationship?
•
Contribution recognised in all IWT related publications (WBCSD website,
press releases, presentations etc).
IWT – 2014 and beyond?
2014
2013
- IWT v1 and v1.1 launch
- IWT v2
- Improved SALDAS
(surface water modelling
5-10km)
- CII demand side data
project
2015-2017
- IWT v3 full convergence
with Aqueduct?
- Inclusion of SALDAS and
CII data?
- Dynamic updates?
Resources
To download IWT v1.1 for free go to
http://www.wbcsd.org/indiawatertool.aspx
For a demo of IWTv1.1 or more information about joining the working group
for v2 contact Hannah Greig, India Water Tool Coordinator at
Greig@wbcsd.org
Publications: http://www.wbcsdpublications.org/
Sharing Water: Engaging Business Why watershed
approaches are important to business sustainability