Company efforts to improve transparency in shared water risk Aquatech

May 7th 2014Hannah 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 v1summary of progresschallenges and success’

• India Water Tool version 2next 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)

Phase I: Company-wide water risk assessment to determine business value at risk & identification of most at risk areas

Phase II: Development of comprehensive water strategy, including local action plans

Phase III: Implementation of water stewardship strategies at enterprise & local level; action outside the fence line with other users in the watershed

E.g. resources/expertsWRI Aqueduct Water Risk AtlasWBCSD GWT & sector customization/GEMI LWTWBCSD India Water ToolWWF Water Risk FilterWBCSD Guide to water valuation AWS, EWS and others OECD Water Governance Principles

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

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

Climate change im

pacts & resilience

Good w

ater governance for mgm

t & allocation

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

Working group

Challenges

Source www.indiaenvironmentportal.co.inSource: River basin atlas of India, CWC and ISRO, 2012

DATA!Granularity

Quality

Accessib

ilityCoverageSource: CGWB

Source: CWC

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

Reporting and

standards

Water quality

Ground water, surface water

and rainfall

Water modelling

Agriculture Water withdrawal

Stakeholder outreach IT Platform

Sub groups

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 time-bound 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?

2013- IWT v1 and v1.1 launch

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 atGreig@wbcsd.org

Publications: http://www.wbcsdpublications.org/

Sharing Water: Engaging Business Why watershed approaches are important to business sustainability