Water (Fresh and Marine)

Freshwater boundary exceeds safe limits

This article from the Stockholm Resilience Centre can help bring you up to speed on the global status of freshwater change. It explains that the freshwater planetary boundary now exceeds safe limits, due to the inclusion of "green water" - the water available to plants - for the first time; it also unpacks this concept of green water.

State of Global Water Resources

This report is the World Meteorological Association’s annual stocktake on how global freshwater availability is being affected by our changing climate. It provides an overview of trends and major events related to river discharge, reservoirs, groundwater levels, high-impact hydrological events (such as floods and droughts), and more, and highlights hotspots for changes in freshwater storage, including the crucial role and vulnerability of snow and ice. These insights will be most useful to strategic planning and risks teams as well as others involved in horizon scanning or scenario analysis.

Water Risk Filter

The Water Risk Filter uses 32 annually-updated, peer reviewed data layers alongside a risk questionnaire to help you explore, understand, prioritise, and respond to water risks at specific sites. It is designed to be easy to use by non-water experts, and is the only water risk tool to assess both basin and operational risks. The filter is also aligned with leading water stewardship frameworks, as well as the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Water Risk Filter also now applies TCFD-linked scenarios, which will help you to understand how water risks may evolve over time.

WWF Guidance Note: "Net Positive Water"

Although the concept of “net positive water” may seem appealing as a simple, universal water metric, much in the way that "net zero carbon" appeals to sustainability professionals and advocates, the reality is that the framing and pursuit of "net positive water" can do more harm than good. This guidance note from the World Wildlife Fund unpacks the concept of net positive water; explains some of the benefits and drawbacks of "net positive" framing with respect to water; and provides recommendations for companies looking to measure consumption, make commitments, and set targets.

The Global Assessment of Private Sector Impacts on Water

This comprehensive report from Ceres is a good resource for any change agent or business leader who wants to understand how industry practices are driving critical threats to global freshwater systems. It explains how industry at large is affecting freshwater resources and how, in turn, business is being impacted; the specific impacts on water from different business sectors; critical and emergent impacts and threats to global water systems; and strategies to mitigating them.

UN-Water SDG 6 Data Portal

This data portal provides indicator and regional snapshots, interactive maps, charts, tables, a data lab, and other tools and resources that can help you to better understand and take action on Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation.

The Alliance for Water Stewardship Standard

The Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard can help you to understand your water use and impacts, and to work collaboratively and transparently for sustainable water management within a catchment context. The standard has five steps: 1) gather & understand, 2) commit & plan, 3) implement, 4) evaluate, and 5) communicate & disclose. The AWS also provides a certification process.

The latest iteration of the standard, version 3.0, has been revised to improve practicality, utility, and value. This includes clearer minimum requirements; enhanced streamlining for cost-effective implementation at scale; better alignment with broader sustainability agendas, such as climate-related goals; and stronger integration with corporate-level reporting, such as tighter alignment with the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

In addition to the Standard, the AWS has produced comprehensive guidance to support persons responsible for implementing the Standard within their organization.

An Introduction to the Alliance for Water Stewardship Standard and Standard System

This free online training module from the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) can help you better understand water stewardship and the AWS Standard. The module has three sections, wherein it introduces the concept of water stewardship, explains the AWS standard, and explains how to implement it. The resource will be most useful to sustainability practitioners interested in implementing the AWS standard or simply updating their water stewardship knowledge.

Advancing Water Stewardship Through Supplier Collaboration

This guide, created in collaboration with WWF and AstraZeneca, can help you to advance credible water action by addressing material impacts on water across your full value chain. The guide identifies potential pathways for cooperation with suppliers, and groups them into five categories: operational enhancements, financial activation, advocacy engagement, industry alignment, and procurement incentivisation. Each pathway includes specific actions to engage suppliers and explains their potential benefits. This practical resource will be most useful to supply chain management and sustainability professionals.

CEO Water Mandate

The CEO Water Mandate is a commitment platform for business leaders and learners to advance water stewardship, in partnership with the United Nations, governments, civil society, and other stakeholders. The Mandate develops tools and resources, convenes stakeholders, and facilitates partnerships and collective actions that improve conditions in at-risk water systems around the world.

The Mandate is now endorsed by over 240 companies from a range of industry sectors and regions around the world. Endorsing companies commit to action across six key elements and report annually on progress on 1) direct operations, 2) supply chain and watershed management, 3) collective action, 4) public policy, 5) community engagement, and 6) transparency. These companies also commit to identifying and reducing critical water risks to their businesses; seizing water-related opportunities; and contributing to water security and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Water Resilience Assessment Framework

Developed by the CEO Water Mandate, the Pacific Institute, and other water experts, the Water Resilience Assessment Framework (WRAF) can help you to advance tangible and quantifiable water system resilience. The WRAF is an iterative process that consists of four key steps: visualising the system, developing a resilience strategy, testing the resilience strategy, and evaluation. Created to inform resilience decision-making to help prevent water shocks and stresses from becoming crises, this is an important resource for informing and guiding short- and long-term decisions and actions from stakeholders.

Also available is sector-specific corporate guidance, applicable to corporations of any size and across different geographies. This complementary document features 'Water Resilience Indicators' and a 'Resilience Scoring Tool' that can help your company to implement the WRAF.

Putting Water Strategy into Context: A Practical Guide to Connect Corporate Strategic Objectives to Local Water Context

This guide from the WWF was created to help businesses begin the process of embedding science-based water targets into their operations and strategy. It details six shifts that corporations need to make in the development of their water strategies, and introduces a four-step approach to facilitate this change: 1) assess the foundational components that a water strategy needs to account for, such as risks, opportunities, and corporate monitoring and evaluation criterion; 2) prioritise the areas of strategic relevance relating to inherent and residual water-related risks and/or opportunities; 3) define the context and the related actions that will be focused upon; and 4) set goals and targets that are aligned with and informed by the context. This guide is an excellent resource for change agents, business leaders, and other corporate water experts who want to strengthen stewardship principles and activities within their organisation and advance corporate uptake and investment in water stewardship.

Contextual Water Targets: A Practical Guide to Setting Contextual Corporate- and Site-Level Water Targets

This guide from the WWF builds upon their Putting Water Strategy into Context report and introduces a five-step target-setting framework that can help you to draw on local water context to set contextual water targets at both a corporate- and site-level. The guide also provides a primer on other commonly used water–related targets types (non–contextual, contextual, and science–based) and explains how they relate and can complement one another.

Implementing the OECD Principles on Water Governance

The report from the OECD was created to support governments and stakeholders in addressing challenges and pressures from megatrends on water demand and supply through more effective governance and institutions. It features two tools to strengthen water policies: the OECD Water Governance Indicator Framework, which is a voluntary self-assessment tool, and 50+ practices that illustrate the OECD Principles on Water Governance. The self-assessment tool was created to support multi-stakeholder dialogue on the performance of water governance systems, and will be particularly beneficial to corporations. It takes a contextual, place-based approach that will help you to measure, assess, and take action on water-related goals.

Bridging the Gaps in ESG Water Data to Create Opportunities

Investors lack contextual focus and common definitions in relation to mainstream ESG water data. In response, the WWF created this guide to provide a snapshot of the main limitations around water in current ESG approaches, such as those related to risk exposure and response, and to highlight recommendations for tackling these challenges so that you can better account for water in your ESG data and disclosure.

Water Circularity Metric: Tool and guidance note

This guide from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) features a set of indicators that can help you to assess and advance the circularity of water at the facility level. It also includes a scenario-based Water Circularity Metric (WCM) tool to help users measure, set targets, and monitor progress on circular water management.

Wall Street is paying more attention to the business risks posed by water

This article from Quartz highlights the rising tide of water-related financial risks and increasing investor scrutiny. It also briefly explains the complexity and challenges in confronting water risk, as well as how some financial institutions are assessing these risks.

Development of a Company‐Level Cost‐Benefit Analysis Framework: Assessing the Full Value of Water Stewardship Investments to Business and Society

This brief from Ceres, Bluerisk, and the Valuing Water Initiative can help you make the business case for water stewardship interventions anywhere in your value chain. It introduces a cost-benefit analysis framework for quantitatively estimating the full value of water, including the cost of solutions, water-related risks to the business, and business-related water impacts on society. This resource will be most useful to sustainability teams and supply chain managers seeking to initiate water stewardship programs.

Valuing Water Finance Initiative Benchmark: Assessing Company Performance on Corporate Expectations across Four Water-Intensive Industries

This report from Ceres can help you understand the current corporate water stewardship landscape. The benchmarking section evaluates 72 companies from a range of sectors on their water stewardship based on six criteria: water quantity, water quality, ecosystem protection, access to water, board oversight, and public policy engagement. The report highlights twelve key research findings, providing a comprehensive review of the state of corporate water stewardship and where improvements can be made. These findings will be most useful to sustainability practitioners seeking to benchmark and improve their organisation’s performance on water.

The Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles

Launched in 2018, the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles are the world’s first global guiding framework for banks, insurers, and investors to finance a sustainable blue economy. Developed by the European Commission, WWF, the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the European Investment Bank (EIB), these principles promote the implementation of SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and set out ocean-specific standards for advancing the sustainability of ocean-based sectors.

Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction

The United Nations agreement on biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction or BBNJ Agreement (referred to by some stakeholders as the High Seas Treaty or Global Ocean Treaty, and more formally known as The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction) is a legally binding agreement for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Adopted in June 2023 by the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction convened under the auspices of the United Nations, and entering into force in January 2026, the agreement addresses four main issues: marine genetic resources, including the fair and equitable sharing of benefits; measures such as area-based management tools, including marine protected areas; environmental impact assessments; and capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology. Importantly, the provision for creating marine protected areas in international waters makes it possible to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030 - a key factor in achieving the global goal to designate 30% of Earth's land and ocean area as protected areas by 2030, as agreed in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The agreement also addresses a number of “cross-cutting issues," establishes a funding mechanism, and sets up institutional arrangements, including a Conference of the Parties and various subsidiary bodies, a Clearing-House Mechanism, and a secretariat.

Water Futures: Mobilizing Multi-Stakeholder Action for Resilience

This report from the World Economic Forum can help you to understand how water resilience can be strengthened through private sector and multi-stakeholder action. It explains why building water resilience is critical to the economy; explains how shaping a systems approach that mainstreams circular water and rethinks water use and restores ecosystems can help build water resilience at different scales; and outlines five pathways to water resilience, including holistic water valuation, fit-for-purpose finance, sustained basin-level partnerships, adaptive water governance, and the collaborative policy-innovation nexus.

Water Management and Stewardship: A Getting Started Guide

The growing global water crisis presents a risk to businesses and the communities and environments where they operate. Collectively, we face intertwined challenges of water scarcity, extreme weather events such as floods and droughts, declining water quality, and significant losses of water-related ecosystems. Effective corporate water management and stewardship approaches can help to foster resilience. Anchored in research, this guide helps your company to understand how water management and stewardship support a credible water strategy by providing a foundational understanding of the concepts and clarity on the work ahead.

Unpacking Water Governance: A Framework for Practitioners

This research paper from the Stockholm International Water Institute can help you better understand water governance and how to improve it. Although it is an academic paper, the paper outlines a practical framework for unpacking water governance. The authors describe eight core governance functions and their application to different water issues. It then defines a set of good governance attributes and outcomes.

Although parts of this framework are intended for the public sector, it remains broadly applicable to sustainability practitioners involved in water stewardship in the private sector.

Integrating the Water Planetary Boundary With Water Management From Local to Global Scales

The water planetary boundary within the Planetary Boundaries Framework attempts to provide a global limit to anthropogenic water cycle modifications, but it has been challenging to translate and apply it to the regional and local scales at which water problems and management typically occur. This report introduces a cross-scale approach that accounts for fair share and local safe operating space to guide sustainable water management within varying contexts.

OECD Water Governance Indicator Framework

This self-assessment tool is based on the OECD report Implementing the OECD Principles on Water Governance, and was created to support the implementation of the Principles. The Framework is composed of a 'traffic light' system of 36 water governance indicators (input and process) and a checklist containing 100+ questions on water governance. It is complemented by an action plan for discussion on future improvements of the water governance system in the short, medium, and long term.

Water Stewardship Maturity Framework

This framework from the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) can help you understand how water stewardships applies to the extractives sector. It features a maturity model that outlines five key elements of water stewardship: governance and strategy, risks and opportunities, business planning integration, measurement, and reporting. Within each element there is a set of practices grouped into three levels of maturity (basic, advanced, and leading), enabling you to assess your maturity and identify opportunities to improve. The framework is also aligned with external guidance such as the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

The Benefits of Restoring Rivers and Wetlands

This short resource from WWF can help you to understand the societal benefits of restoring rivers and wetlands. It explains why healthy rivers and wetlands are important, as well as the benefits that restored freshwater ecosystems provide. It also lays out the freshwater challenge in UN conventions and commitments and explains how policy makers can accelerate river and wetland restoration.

Science Based Targets

Building on the momentum of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) is a collaboration of 45+ global non-profits and mission-driven organizations working together to develop guidance to set science-based targets for all of Earth’s systems. Science Based Targets has created a five-step target-setting framework that helps you to assess; interpret and prioritise; measure, set, and disclose; act upon; and track your science-based goals. They have also created sector-specific guidance and target monitoring for companies and financial institutions.

At present, Science Based Targets helps companies to develop their goals based on the latest science: SBTi specifically focuses on GHG emission reduction goals, and SBTN specifically focuses on nature positive goals, with target-setting guidance for land, biodiversity, and freshwater. Their respective websites provide comprehensive resources, cases, and support for taking credible action.

Setting Site Water Targets Informed By Catchment Context: A Guide For Companies

The world’s water resources are under growing pressure, and a growing number of companies are setting catchment-based water targets to help secure water for the growing needs of all users. If your company is looking to address its water impact from a contextual perspetive, this guide is an excellent starting point. The guide explains fundamental definitions; explains the elements most crucial for setting site water targets that reflect the catchment context; and includes a "stoplight" system for early, high-level assessment of water challenges. A separate set of case studies are also available.

Water Footprint Network

Access tools and resources to help you calculate your organisation's water footprint from the Water Footprint Network. This may help you to identify potential sources of risk and discover where to prioritise your efforts.

Investor's Water Toolkit

Ceres’ Investor Water Toolkit is a comprehensive resource for evaluating and acting upon water risks in investment portfolios. Written for investors by investors, this guide includes links to knowledge resources, databases, analyses, case studies, and other tools that help quantify and mitigate water risks.

Smart Water Navigator

ECOLAB's Smart Water Navigator provides a holistic roadmap to corporate water management that can help you to minimise risk and optimise costs. The Navigator features two tools: the Water Risk Monetizer, and the Water Action Assessment. You can use the Water Risk Monetizer tool to estimate the amount of revenue that could potentially be lost due to the impact of water scarcity on your organisation's operations. It draws on global basin-level water data, and will help you determine water risk at a facility level. The Water Action Assessment employs a straightforward questionnaire to help you understand how your facilities are performing compared to industry-leading water management practices, and allows you to gauge the maturity of your water stewardship strategy.

Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting (VWBA): A Method For Implementing and Valuing Water Stewardship Activities

This working paper from WRI and partners introduces a new science-based approach for measuring the benefit of all types of water stewardship activities in a comparable way. Volumetric Benefit Accounting (VBA) aims to standardize an approach and a set of indicators that will help corporate water stewardship practitioners who face the challenge of finding robust, comparable, and practical ways to estimate the benefits of water stewardship activities. This guide provides a thorough explanation of the guiding criteria and methodology, as well as illustrative case studies that apply the accounting framework.

A Practical Guide to Catchment-Based Water Management

The International Council of Mining & Metals (ICMM) has created a comprehensive guide to help leaders and change agents within the extractives industry (from the strategic level down to the site level) to identify, evaluate, and respond to catchment-based water-related risks. A collection of tools is also available to help you review and build your awareness of catchment-related strategy; to understand your boundaries and the concept of water issues in the catchment so that you can better perform assessments; and to understand and develop response plans and strategy. These tools have also been divided into three corresponding sections.

Context-Based Decision Guide for Water Reuse and Recycling

Developed by the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER), this guide will help you to hasten internal conversations with regards to investments in advancing context-based water stewardship. The guide will also help you to understand when (and why) an organization should consider moving beyond water reduction and towards water reuse and recycling.

High and Dry: How Water Issues are Stranding Assets

Water risk factors are already stranding assets throughout the coal, electric utilities, metals & mining, and oil & gas sectors, and are growing as a strategic concern in other industries. Consequently, the financial sector is facing growing exposure to such water-related risks and their potential knock-on events. The Swiss Federal Office for the Environment created this guide to help you better understand the issue and impacts of water scarcity on business activities and investments. It explain the drivers of water scarcity; highlights case studies across resource majors and examines their preparedness for water-stranding event; and makes recommendations for action for financiers who may be affected.

Freshwater Ecosystems Explorer

This free data platform from UNEP provides accurate, up-to-date, high-resolution geospatial data that can help you to better understand and quantify the state of freshwater ecosystems. Data related to permanent and seasonal surface waters, reservoirs, wetlands, water quality, and more can be visualised and downloaded at national, sub-national, and basin levels.

Water Use Efficiency Index

This resource from Ecolab and CDP can help you to measure, compare, and improve operational water performance. Drawing on CDP’s database of more than 10,000 annual corporate water disclosures, as well as Ecolab’s insights from millions of customer locations across 40 industries and 170 countries, the index intends to offer sector-specific ranges for best-in-class water use efficiency and optimised targets, thereby helping companies to better understand water use in their operations and how to improve.

The initiative is currently in its piloting stage, and has begun with a pilot for the Beverage and Brew segment of the Food, Beverage, and Agriculture industry.

Quality Unknown: The Invisible Water Crisis

This comprehensive report from the World Bank Group can help you to build a robust understanding of how poor water quality impacts societal and economic progress. It explains the impacts of poor water quality on human health, productivity, and human capital, with an emphasis on the impacts of poor sanitation and hygiene; the impacts of water pollution on food production; key determinants of water quality and the impacts of poor water quality; emerging pollutants; and key insights into solving complex water quality issues effectively and efficiently.

The Global Freshwater Quality Database (GEMStat)

The Global Freshwater Quality Database GEMStat provides scientifically-sound data and information that can help you to better understand the state and trend of global inland water quality and produce statistical and graphical analysis of water quality data at the station, country, and catchment level. It features interactive maps that provide an overview of global water quality by means of water quality indicators for dissolved oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and pH.

Business guidance on the assessment of wastewater-related impacts

This guidance from WBCSD can help your company to better understand and manage the impacts of untreated and partially treated wastewater. It provides a standardised, 5-step process for measuring, valuing, and managing the impacts of wastewater generated by your operating sites or those of suppliers. This guidance can also be used in conjunction with the Wastewater Impact Assessment Tool, which automates part of the process of applying the guidance.

Factsheets on Water Quality Parameters

These factsheets from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can help you to become familiar with common parameters for monitoring water quality. The fact sheets explore aspects of water quality such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, nutrients, macroinvertebrates, e. coli, metals, and habitat conditions. Each factsheet examines key questions related to why and how measurements are made for the parameter in question, what can affect the parameter (positively or negatively), and the challenges of using said parameter. These factsheets will be particularly useful for explaining water quality sampling to leaders and outside partners.

Wastewater Impact Assessment Tool (WIAT)

This tool from WBCSD can help you to undertake site-level assessments of pressures and changes on the state of nature and the impacts on climate, biodiversity, and water security resulting from industrial wastewater (water quality) and water use (water quantity). The tool uses wastewater treatment and water use data at a site level to calculate impact and levers of action for three key indicators: water quality, water availability, and GHG emissions. WIAT also pulls in and overlays contextual data from other global data sources to further highlight changes in the state of nature within a local context. WIAT is aligned with CDP and GRI, and the outputs of the tool are aligned with the SBTs for nature methodology. This tool will be of particular benefit to professionals tasked with setting science-based targets for nature.

Progress on Ambient Water Quality – 2024 Update

This UN report can help you to better understand the global status on ambient water quality and the actions required to advance the SDG target 6.3 by 2030, which seeks to improve water quality by "...reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally." This report presents the latest results and findings from the 2023 data drive for SDG Indicator 6.3.2 on ambient water quality; provides key messages on water quality monitoring and assessment; and highlights acceleration needs.

Progress on Wastewater Treatment – 2024 Update

This UN report can help you to better understand the global status on wastewater treatment and the actions required to advance the SDG target 6.3 by 2030, which seeks to improve water quality by "...reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally." It features comprehensive information on wastewater measurement methods and processes; results and analyses; and progress towards achieving SDG 6.3.

Water, Peace and Security Map

Founded in 2018, the Water, Peace and Security (WPS) partnership was created to develop tools and services that can help you to identify, understand, and address water-related security risks. WPS takes an integrated approach consisting of four intervention areas: generating understanding about the risks of water-related security threats; facilitating informed action by decision-makers; providing training and capacity development; and generating information and understanding to build partnerships and to support dialogue, water-based cooperation, and conflict-sensitive interventions.

The WPS map provides short- and long-term conflict forecasts, and WPS publishes quarterly updates, blogs, and analyses that can help sustainability and strategy professionals to better assess risk.