Water Education Foundation
This is just one post in the International Water Issues Category
Click here to view all posts

New report puts climate change and global water crisis in business perspective; UN and Pacific Institute detail what businesses need to know and do

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 24, 2009 at 10:56 am

From the Pacific Institute, this press release:

The Pacific Institute and the UN Global Compact have released Climate Change and the Global Water Crisis: What Businesses Need to Know and Do, a paper exploring the linkages between climate change and water – from both the scientific and corporate management perspectives.

“Climate-related impacts on water resources are already being documented,” said Jason Morrison, director of the Pacific Institute’s Globalization Program. “Businesses need to respond in an integrated way, measuring and assessing the risks associated with their water and carbon footprints, and integrating these issues into strategic business planning.”

Climate Change and the Global Water Crisis details how climate change is expected to impact water scarcity, water quality, and water demand. It also brings to the fore how interconnected water and energy are, particularly in terms of the vast amounts of energy used to treat, distribute, and use water, and the serious shortsightedness and risks of managing water and energy/climate change in isolation of one another.

The Pacific Institute and UN Global Compact present the need for the business sector to take action on both climate and water, detailing how disruptions in water supply can increase water prices and trigger increased socio-political risks. Without forward-thinking management, such disruptions can undermine industrial operations, increase competition for clean water, exacerbate the subsequent tensions that arise between businesses and local communities, and cause ecological impacts from water withdrawal and discharge that require more regulatory action.

“This paper underscores the importance of viewing the many ways in which different environmental challenges are in fact deeply connected, and the need to approach these issues in an integrated way,” said Georg Kell, executive director of the UN Global Compact. “Climate change needs to be understood in terms of how it will impact a range of other issues – such as water, food, energy, and, of course, development, and poverty.”

The Pacific Institute is dedicated to protecting our natural world, encouraging sustainable development, and improving global security. Founded in 1987 and based in Oakland, California, the Institute provides independent research and policy analysis on issues at the intersection of development, environment, and security and aims to find real-world solutions to problems like water shortages, habitat destruction, global warming, and environmental injustice. www.pacinst.org

The CEO Water Mandate is a United Nations Global Compact initiative, launched by the U.N. Secretary-General, and is designed to help the private sector better understand and address its impacts on and management of water resources, working to facilitate actions and partnerships that help companies become more sustainable and equitable. One of the most comprehensive and visible cross-sectoral, public-private partnerships on water, it represents both a call to action and a strategic framework for responsible water management by business.

May 24, 2009 · Filed Under International Water Issues

Comments

Leave a Reply