Analysis and Studies - Studies
Water Security: the role of businesses
April 13th 2023
Between the 22nd and the 24th of March, the UN 2023 Water Conference took place in New York.
Water scarcity is an issue that we all have to deal with and the UN is focused on bringing everyone’s attention on it, in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The lack of access to safely managed drinking water is a threat to billions of people around the world. Moreover, droughts, flooding and tropical storms are just some of the many water-related natural disasters caused by climate change that kill ecosystems and people and cause many economic losses.
Governments have the moral obligation of accomplishing water security, but the effort must be collective: businesses should take part in this challenge, along with NGOs and affected communities.
As the World Economic Forum reports, there are five actions that a business can take to speed up progress on water security:
- Manage its water footprint, consume less water, increase water efficiency, and resupply what it uses;
- Support investment and financing to help vulnerable countries to overcome poverty, conflict, and instability caused by the lack of water;
- Partner with governments, NGOs, and communities to scale up investments and climate financing, but also with organizations that can provide access to innovative technologies;
- Promote systems consolidation and good governance, and advocate for norms that protect water services;
- Build expertise to develop knowledge and skills within NGOs, national systems and communities-
Water security guarantees higher living standards and it is an urgent matter that needs a collective response to find new solutions. Discover more about this topic on the World Economic Forum’s website.
