BSR Insight Articles About Water

New Tool Helps Companies, Investors Assess Water-Related Risks

The Ceres Aqua Gauge, an Excel-based tool to help companies and investors assess water-related risks and opportunities, allows investors to score a company's water-management activities using a four-tiered rating system: no action, initial steps, advanced progress, and leading practice. Read more →

Posted: October 25, 2011 | Topics: Reporting & Communications, Stakeholder Relations, Water

Re-Scaling for the New Local

Linda Hwang, Former Manager, Research

In the next decade, rapidly growing urban regions will need redesigned infrastructure, goods, and services to match peoples’ needs and work within planetary constraints. New efforts to track well-being and happiness, ecological systems under stress, and community and culture shocks like forced water restrictions and food-safety scares are driving people to pursue more resilient solutions such as low-impact housing, off-grid water and energy, seed-sharing programs, and community-supported agriculture. Read more →

Posted: October 25, 2011 | Topics: Community Engagement & Development, Consumer Products, Energy, Environment, Food, Beverage & Agriculture, Health Care, Information & Communications Technology, Toxicity & Product Design, Transportation, Travel & Tourism, Water

Water in an Urbanizing World

The World Wildlife Fund’s new report explores the implications of rapid urbanization on water supply and availability. The report analyzes issues such as water scarcity, decreasing quality and pollution, overuse, and salt-water intrusion, as well as infrastructural, institutional, and social challenges in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Nairobi, Karachi, Kolkata, and Shanghai. Read more →

Posted: August 30, 2011 | Topics: Water

The Long Journey of Corporate Water Stewardship

Water has become a key strategic issue for global companies: 39 percent of companies are already experiencing detrimental impacts related to water issues, according to the CDP Water Disclosure’s first report. As more companies assess their water-related risk, they’re recognizing that corporate water stewardship entails much more than conservation and efficiency. Read more →

Posted: July 12, 2011 | Topics: Ecosystem Services, Environment, Water

Increasing Costs, Water Scarcity Top Business’ Climate Change Concerns

According to a recent report by the Global Compact, UN Environment Programme, Oxfam, and World Resources Institute, water scarcity and the increasing costs of raw materials and natural resources are business’ two greatest concerns about climate change risks. As the report notes, climate change impacts—including rising temperatures, floods, and extreme weather events—present a variety of risks to companies’ operations and value chains, including: Read more →

Posted: July 5, 2011 | Topics: Climate Change, Land Use & Biodiversity, Strategy & Integration, Water