BSR Insight Articles About Water

What’s the True Value of Water?

Linda Hwang, Former Manager, Research

Two thousand years before Adam Smith compared water and diamonds to differentiate between two separate meanings of "value," Plato observed: "Only what is rare is valuable, and water, which is the best of all things ... is also the cheapest." Both were expressing that the market price of an item does not reflect its true value. Market price reflects the fluctuating circumstances of daily life, whether the vagaries of supply or demand, while the true value is something more basic, enduring, and stable. This true value of water has been perceived differently at varying times. With the price of water increasing faster than U.S. inflation and any other utility service, we may finally be entering an era where the market price of water more accurately reflects its true value for people and for ecosystems. Read more →

Posted: May 22, 2012 | Topics: Water

Report Calls on Global Apparel Companies to Address Water Pollution in China

Julia Robinson, Communications Associate

Five environmental organizations—including China’s Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, founded by Ma Jun, who was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize on Monday—sent letters to the CEOs of 48 apparel companies, calling on them to address wastewater pollution and the inefficient use of water in their Chinese supply chains. According to the groups’ “Cleaning Up the Fashion Industry” report (available in Chinese, with an English press release, and an English version of the report forthcoming), the Chinese textile industry, which accounts for half of the global total, lags “way behind” other industries in the reuse of water and produces close to 2.5 billion tons of wastewater and other pollutants every year. Fifteen companies responded to the letter, and seven of them had already initiated remedial measures. The report culled data from more than 6,000 textile company records collected since 2006. BSR’s Sustainable Water Group, which focuses on responsible water use in the supply chain, recommends that companies use public data and share best practices with industry peers to conserve and reuse wastewater. _Read the summary from Ma Jun’s session at the BSR Conference 2011._ Read more →

Posted: April 17, 2012 | Topics: Consumer Products, Supply Chain, Water

Scaling Up Payments for Watershed Services

Linda Hwang, Former Manager, Research

Watershed Connect, a new online platform by Forest Trends and Ecosystem Marketplace, helps water managers, policymakers, and other stakeholders involved in investing in watersheds share information and resources to help solve the global water crisis. Through payments for watershed services (PWS) programs, cities globally have been addressing water scarcity and declining quality cost effectively by restoring and protecting the natural infrastructure that supplies clean water. Through these programs, landowners receive financial incentives to conserve, sustainably manage, and/or restore watersheds to yield services like purification, flood and erosion control, and places for people to enjoy the outdoors. Despite much activity, there has been no effective space for those involved in PWS to share experiences and ideas. This platform aims to make information on various programs more accessible so more practitioners can receive news and analyses, join relevant discussions, share their own project work, and access resources to help them implement or scale up their own PWS schemes. Read more →

Posted: April 10, 2012 | Topics: Ecosystem Services, Water

KPMG Report Picks 10 Sustainability ‘Megaforces’

Population growth, material resource scarcity, climate change, and energy and fuel are among the issues in sustainability that could have significant impact on the business landscape over the next 20 years, according to a recent report by KPMG International. The “Expect the Unexpected: Building Business Value in a Changing World” report outlines 10 global sustainability “megaforces” that are putting the world on a development trajectory that is “not sustainable.” Others on the list include water scarcity, wealth, urbanization, food security, ecosystem decline, and deforestation. (The report is 180 pages; the executive summary is here.) The report notes that all of these forces are interconnected, and insists that in order to manage the risks, businesses must use a systems thinking approach that addresses the ways megaforces relate to each other. Specific recommendations include: * Companies should turn strategic plans into ambitious targets and actions for sustainability supply chain management. * Companies should seek collaboration with business partners on sustainability issues. * Governments should increase collaboration with the private sector. Read more →

Posted: April 3, 2012 | Topics: Climate Change, Ecosystem Services, Energy, Environment, Financial Services, Food, Beverage & Agriculture, Land Use & Biodiversity, Strategy & Integration, Sustainable Consumption, Water

New Water Risk Tool Helps Companies Get Local, Strategic

During last week’s Sustainability Matters webinar, BSR Manager Ryan Flaherty and Betsy Otto, director of the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Aqueduct Program, discussed how companies can develop corporate water strategies using WRI’s new water-management tool. Read more →

Posted: March 20, 2012 | Topics: Water