Business engagement with water: a policy is released

So much is heard of altering household consumption and altering individual behaviour patterns to bring about changed attitudes to water consumption and conservation.  It seems to me that few case histories of business adaptation make it into the popular media to let us know what business can do and what they are doing.  So, to highlight the role of business and how it can contribute to better water management at the commercial and industrial level, I am putting these documents front and centre.  If thinking on water hasn't got far in your firm or company or corporate institution, here's a good place to start.

Guide to Responsible Business Engagement with Water Policy Released

With water issues among the world's most critical sustainability challenges, businesses are facing increasing water-related risk to their operations. The just-releasedGuide to Responsible Business Engagement with Water Policy from the UN Global Compact CEO Water Mandate provides strategies for companies to turn risk into opportunity by advocating for water management approaches that meet the needs of business, communities, and nature.

"The bottom line is that what is good for communities, for public water management, and for the environment is also in the best interest of companies working to ensure their access to water in the long term," said Jason Morrison, director of the Pacific Institute's Globalization Program and coauthor of the Guide. "With increased threats to the supply, quality, and reliability of water resources, companies cannot reduce their risk through changes in internal management alone."

The Guide to Responsible Business Engagement with Water Policy, drafted by the Pacific Institute in its capacity as the "operational arm" of the CEO Water Mandate, helps redefine the way businesses respond to water challenges, focusing on the shared interests between the public and private sectors.

The Guide outlines five principles for responsible business engagement with water policy: a genuine interest in efficient, equitable, and ecologically sustainable water management; a clear division of public and private sector roles, with businesses supporting the government's mandate; inclusiveness and meaningful partnership; recognition of the connections between water and other policy arenas; and corporate transparency and accountability for their actions. 

Read the Guide here.   Download below:

THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

THE FULL DOCUMENT