Water: Responsilble and Sustainable Management

1. Water stewardship
- A journey to better water management
PRESENTED AT:
ETHOS CONFERENCE 2012,
WORKSHOP “WATER: RESPONSIBLE AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT”
12-06-2012
Dr Ashok Chapagain
Senior Water advisor
WWF-UK
achapagain@wwf.org.uk

2. Overview of the presentation
Issue Water Rio & Water WWF
Stewardship
Scene setting for Rio + 20 on water

3. Issue
Water, water everywhere ?

4. A blue planet, ….but

5. Oceans Glaciers, Ground Lakes,
97.5% Snow & water swamps &
permafrost 0.075% rivers
1.725% 0.025%
The world’s water
resources

6. Per capita water availability
16
14 Africa
12
10
8 World
6 Asia
4
2
MEast & NAfrica
0
1960 1990 2025

8. Concept – Context
90% of the
Lake area is lost
due to over abstraction
Source: National Geographic

10. 2020 Water Stress: Rate of Change
10

11. Climate change and change in precipitation

12. Economy-wide impacts
15.0 3.0
2.0
Variability in Rainfall (Meter)
10.0
Real GDP growth (%)
1.0
5.0
0.0
-1.0
0.0
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
-2.0
-5.0
Real GDP grow th (%) -3.0
Variability in Rainfall (Meter)
-10.0 -4.0
Rainfall & GDP growth: Zimbabwe 1978-1993
Years
80 25
20
60
15
40 10
percentage
20 5
0
0
-5
1992
1998
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1993
1995
1996
1997
1999
2000
1982
1983
1984
1985
1994
-20 -10
-15
-40
rainfall variation around the mean -20
-60 GDP growth
-25
-80 -30
year
Rainfall & GDP growth: Ethiopia 1982-2000

13. Water footprint of the UK
….from where?
•
Source: WWF 2008

14. Blue water footprint Blue water availability
Blue water scarcity
Source: Hoekstra et al 2012

15. Number of months during the year in which the water consumption exceeds
water availability for the world's major river basins
Hoekstra et al. 2012

16. Freshwater Living Planet Index
16

17. Concept
The Indus River dolphin

18. Issues and drivers
Our current global water challenges These challenges will grow due to 3 megatrends
• 1.1 B people lack access to safe drinking • Global population will peak at 9 B by 2050
water, 2.6 B lack adequate sanitation • 65% of population and 1/3 of the land area in
services severe water stress
• 3 B additional people will live in cities in the
• 2.7 B are already experiencing severe developing world with poor water and
water scarcity at least one month in a sanitation infrastructure
year
• Temperature increase of 1-2 degrees by 2050
• Freshwater species are declining the • Climate change results in higher weather
fastest, especially in the tropical regions variability, less freshwater stored in ice, more
(70% decline of Living Planet Index since droughts and floods, and changes in the
1970) ecosystem
• Water pollution is high, especially in • Urbanization and rising incomes, especially in BRIC
developing countries where up to 70% countries, leading to higher consumption patterns
of industrial wastewater is disposed • A near doubling of water for irrigation is
without treatment needed through shifts in demand for
different types of food

19. Water is unique
Demands special treatment……….

20. Why water is different from carbon?
Water Carbon
Chronic global shortages already exist Global impacts are slowly increasing
Clear physical and financial risks to Specific risks to business are harder to
business – not only reputations define
Solving water problems is a local issue Solving carbon problems is a global
issue
No single international convention Addressed through UNFCCC
addresses water comprehensively
Shortages can vary disastrously from CO2 increases and decreases gradually
year to year
Meaningful solutions must be found in Cap and trade carbon trading systems
the watershed to address impacts
Confusion over response Confusion over measurement
Response is Stewardship Response is Efficiency

21. WWF – Water Stewardship
Vision:
• All stakeholders in our priority river basins, including an active
private sector, are fully engaged in efforts to secure water for
people and nature by recognizing and taking responsibility of their
role in managing freshwater within the wider water cycle, and
integrating the principles of good stewardship into their core
(business) activities
• By reducing the impacts of their own water footprints
• By taking voluntary action to conserve freshwater ecosystems
• By participating in constructive public policy and industry standard
dialogues to improve water resource management

22. WWF – Water Stewardship strategy
Ultimate goals per step for WWF:
Governments incentivized and motivated to manage and
Influence invest in water basins in a sustainable way
Level of watershed sustainability
governance
Stakeholder Companies, governments and NGO’s are engaged
engagement together in multi-stakeholder platforms to address issues
Companies take action to optimize internal water
Internal governance, improve water efficiency and reduce
action pollution
Knowledge Companies have detailed understanding of impact they
of impact and their suppliers have (incl. footprint & risk)
Companies, their suppliers and customers have (high
Water level) understanding of the global water challenges, their
awareness dependence on freshwater and their exposure to water
related risks
Progress

23. WWF Water Stewardship – examples
Influence
Governance
Stakeholder
Engagement
Internal
Action
Knowledge
of Impact
Water
Awareness

24. Primary (physical) risks Shared
quantity; quality risks
Other businesses Ecosystems Communities Governments
Secondary risks
regulatory; litigational; reputational; market
Supply Direct Investments
chains operations
Economic
impact
Adapted from R Farrington 24

25. Role of businesses in water management
16th July 2011
Godavri River, India – water consumption Shanghai, China – urban pollution
Sugar mill, Africa – industrial pollution Asparagus, Peru – groundwater
extraction
25

26. Rio and water
Lessons learnt…….

27. UN Conference on Environment and Development
UNCED: Rio 1992
• Agenda 21 Chapter 18 is dedicated to water.
• Encouraged:
– the global management of freshwater
– the integration of sectoral water plans and programmes within
the framework of national economic and social policy
• For the first time, development and environment are
seen as strongly associated.
• Creation of the Commission on Sustainable
Development

28. UN Conference on Environment and Development
However, water is not yet a great priority
• Almost exclusively dominated by the officials from the
Environment ministries
• Very few water professionals from developing countries
participated
• The Heads of States rarely, referred to water as an
important environmental issue
• Chapter 18, even though it was the longest chapter of
the Agenda 21, was also the most poorly formulated

29. UN Conference on Environment and Development
Some even argue that
“In all probability, developments in the water sector would
not have been very different at present, even if the Rio
Conference had not taken place”
- Prof. Asit K Biswas

30. Timeline: post Rio-1992
1994 - Ministerial Conference on Drinking Water Supply & Sanitation, Noordwijk
1994 – Int. Conference on Population & Development, Le Caire
1996 - UN Conference on Human Settlements, Istanbul
1997 - First World Water Forum, Marrakech
2000 - 2nd World Water Forum, Den Hague
2000 - United Nations Millennium Declaration
2001 - International Conference on Freshwater, Bonn
2002 - World Summit on Sustainable development,
(Rio + 10), Johannesburg
2003 - 3rd World Water Forum, Kyoto + International Water Yea
2006 - 4th World Water Forum, Mexico
2009 – 5th World Water Forum, Istanbul, Turkey
2012 – 6th World Water Forum, Marseille, France

31. NGOs, business, civil societies
Numerous platforms, tools and methods developed
e.g. WBCSD, WFN, IUCN, WRI, CEO water mandate, Risk tools etc.
New concepts, ideas and standards emerged e.g. water accounting
(water footprint), disclosure (such as CDP), Water stewardship, AWS,
ISO etc.
Risk element of water as a business motivation to engage, corporate
water strategies, certification etc.

32. WWF’s engagement
Finally……

33. Level of engagements
 Business engagement
 Consumer awareness
 Government involvement
 WFD (Water Framework Directive)
 food/energy/water in one coherent frame in
development strategy
 legislation/WF accounting/product transparency etc.
 Engaging with other key players
 such as AWS, WFN , WBCSD, financial institutions GTZ ,
development banks, NGO’s etc.

34. & the list of a few partners on this journey…..

35. WWF- Water Corporate Partnerships

36. “we shan’t save all we’d like to, but
we shall save a great deal more
than if we had never tried.”
“we shan’t save all we’d like to, but Founder
Sir Peter Scott – WWF
we shall save a great deal more
than if we had never tried.”
Sir Peter Scott – WWF Founder
Thank you very much.
achapagain@wwf.org.uk