Dr Ashok Chapagain

Senior Water advisor

WWF-UK

achapagain@wwf.org.uk

Water stewardship - A journey to better water management

PRESENTED AT:

ETHOS CONFERENCE 2012, WORKSHOP “WATER: RESPONSIBLE AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT”

12-06-2012

Overview of the presentation

Scene setting for Rio + 20 on water

IIssuessue

Water Water SStewardshiptewardship

WWFWWF

Rio & WaterRio & Water

Issue

Water, water everywhere ?

A blue planet, ….but

The world’s water

resources

Glaciers,

Snow &

permafrost

1.725%

Ground

water

0.075%

Lakes,

swamps &

rivers

0.025%

Oceans

97.5%

Per capita water availability

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

1960 1990 2025

Africa

Asia

MEast & NAfrica

World

Concept – Context So

urc

e: N

atio

nal

Geo

grap

hic

90% of the

Lake area is lost

due to over abstraction

2020 Water Stress: Rate of Change

10

Climate change and change in precipitation

-80

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

year

perc

enta

ge

-30

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

rainfall variation around the mean

GDP growth

-80

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

year

perc

enta

ge

-30

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

rainfall variation around the mean

GDP growth

Rainfall & GDP growth: Ethiopia 1982-2000

-10.0

-5.0

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

19

79

19

80

19

81

19

82

19

83

19

84

19

85

19

86

19

87

19

88

19

89

19

90

19

91

19

92

19

93

YearsR

eal

GD

P g

row

th (

%)

-4.0

-3.0

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

Vari

ab

ilit

y i

n R

ain

fall

(M

ete

r)

Real GDP grow th (%)

Variability in Rainfall (Meter)

Rainfall & GDP growth: Zimbabwe 1978-1993

Economy-wide impacts

….from where?

Water footprint of the UK

•

Source: WWF 2008

Source: Hoekstra et al 2012

Blue water footprint Blue water availability

Blue water scarcity

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

Concept

The Indus River dolphin

Issues and drivers

These challenges will grow due to 3 megatrends

• Global population will peak at 9 B by 2050 • 65% of population and 1/3 of the land area in

severe water stress • 3 B additional people will live in cities in the

developing world with poor water and sanitation infrastructure

• Temperature increase of 1-2 degrees by 2050 • Climate change results in higher weather

variability, less freshwater stored in ice, more droughts and floods, and changes in the ecosystem

• Urbanization and rising incomes, especially in BRIC countries, leading to higher consumption patterns

• A near doubling of water for irrigation is needed through shifts in demand for different types of food

Our current global water challenges • 1.1 B people lack access to safe drinking

water, 2.6 B lack adequate sanitation services

• 2.7 B are already experiencing severe water scarcity at least one month in a year

• Freshwater species are declining the fastest, especially in the tropical regions (70% decline of Living Planet Index since 1970)

• Water pollution is high, especially in developing countries where up to 70% of industrial wastewater is disposed without treatment

Water is unique

Demands special treatment……….

Why water is different from carbon?

Water Carbon

Chronic global shortages already exist Global impacts are slowly increasing

Clear physical and financial risks to business – not only reputations

Specific risks to business are harder to define

Solving water problems is a local issue Solving carbon problems is a global issue

No single international convention addresses water comprehensively

Addressed through UNFCCC

Shortages can vary disastrously from year to year

CO2 increases and decreases gradually

Meaningful solutions must be found in the watershed

Cap and trade carbon trading systems to address impacts

Confusion over response Confusion over measurement

Response is Stewardship Response is Efficiency

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

WWF – Water Stewardship strategy

Water awareness

Knowledge of impact

Influence governance

Leve

l of

wat

ersh

ed s

ust

ain

abili

ty

Internal action

Ultimate goals per step for WWF:

Stakeholder engagement

Governments incentivized and motivated to manage and invest in water basins in a sustainable way

Companies, governments and NGO’s are engaged together in multi-stakeholder platforms to address issues

Companies take action to optimize internal water governance, improve water efficiency and reduce pollution

Companies have detailed understanding of impact they and their suppliers have (incl. footprint & risk)

Companies, their suppliers and customers have (high level) understanding of the global water challenges, their dependence on freshwater and their exposure to water related risks

Progress

Water Awareness

Knowledge of Impact

Stakeholder Engagement

Influence Governance

Internal Action

WWF Water Stewardship – examples

Primary (physical) risks

Supply chains

Direct operations

Investments

Shared risks

Other businesses Ecosystems Communities Governments

Secondary risks regulatory; litigational; reputational; market

quantity; quality

Economic impact

Adapted from R Farrington 24

16th July 2011

Role of businesses in water management

25

Godavri River, India – water consumption Shanghai, China – urban pollution

Sugar mill, Africa – industrial pollution Asparagus, Peru – groundwater

extraction

Rio and water

Lessons learnt…….

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

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

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

1997 - First World Water Forum, Marrakech

Timeline: post Rio-1992

2009 – 5th World Water Forum, Istanbul, Turkey

1996 - UN Conference on Human Settlements, Istanbul

1994 – Int. Conference on Population & Development, Le Caire

1994 - Ministerial Conference on Drinking Water Supply & Sanitation, Noordwijk

2002 - World Summit on Sustainable development, (Rio + 10), Johannesburg

2001 - International Conference on Freshwater, Bonn

2000 - United Nations Millennium Declaration

2003 - 3rd World Water Forum, Kyoto + International Water Year

2006 - 4th World Water Forum, Mexico

2000 - 2nd World Water Forum, Den Hague

2012 – 6th World Water Forum, Marseille, France

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.

Finally……

WWF’s engagement

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.

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

WWF- Water Corporate Partnerships

“we shan’t save all we’d like to, but 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

“we shan’t save all we’d like to, but we shall save a great deal more

than if we had never tried.”

Sir Peter Scott – WWF Founder