PEPSICO — Reached its 2025 global goal of a 25% improvement in operational water-use efficiency in high water-risk areas. Water saving initiatives included new methods to wash corn, using membrane bioreactor technology to purify process water to drinking-level standards, and recapturing water that evaporates during cooking. (April 2024)

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AMAZON — Amazon Web Services pledged to be “water positive” by 2030, returning more water to communities than it uses in its direct operations. To achieve this it will use four key strategies: increasing water efficiency; using sustainable sources of water, such as recycled water; providing used water for community reuse, such as irrigation; and water replenishment, such as by restoring watersheds and bringing clean water to water-stressed communities. (Dec 2022)

UNDER ARMOUR — Released a new sustainability framework with 23 goals and targets, including eliminating biocides and perfluorinated compounds from durable water repellents in the company’s products by 2025. (Oct 2022)

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LEVI STRAUSS & CO. — Announced 16 new sustainability goals, including reducing freshwater use in manufacturing by 50% in high water stress areas by 2025. (Oct 2022)

AMAZON — Helped launch Water.org’s Water & Climate Fund and contributed $10 million to the fund. The fund, one of the largest private investment portfolios in water and climate, will focus on climate-resilient water and sanitation solutions that will help provide lasting access for 100 million people across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. (Sept 2022)

CARLSBERG GROUP — Launched its new ESG program, “Together Towards ZERO and Beyond,” which updates its ESG targets and adds new focus areas. New suite of targets includes achieving (Aug 2022):

Net-zero carbon emissions across its entire value chain by 2040.
100% of raw materials from regenerative agriculture and sustainably sourced by 2040.
100% of packaging recyclable, reusable, or renewable by 2030.
100% replenishment of water consumption at breweries in high-risk areas.
35% of its global beer portfolio to be low-alcohol or no-alcohol by 2030.

SALESFORCE — Announced new Ocean-Climate Policy Priorities to guide its policy work in three areas deemed key to ocean protection: marine ecosystems & coastal communities, plastic pollution, and large-scale emissions reductions. Salesforce referenced the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, which describes how ocean-based solutions could provide as much as one-fifth of the emissions reductions needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C. (June 2022)

P&G — Added two new water restoration goals to its "water positive" sustainability strategy—one connected to the manufacturing phase of its products and one connected to the use phase. In that order (June 2022):

At P&G manufacturing sites in 18 water-stressed areas around the world, the company will aim to restore more water within those watersheds than is consumed through inclusion in products and evaporation during their manufacture.
In water-stressed Los Angeles and Mexico City, which account for over half of the total water consumed during the use of P&G products across 18 priority water-stressed areas, a first-of-its-kind goal aims to restore more water than is consumed during customer use of P&G products.

Both goals will be achieved in large part through partnerships with leading environmental organizations and offsetting projects involving a range of solutions that improve, manage, and protect water resources.

TRACTOR SUPPLY — Pledged to reduce its company-wide absolute water footprint by 25 million gallons by 2025 through operational efficiencies at its distribution centers and retail stores, “as well as through partnerships to preserve natural waterways.” (May 2022)

L’ORÉAL — L’Oréal brand Garnier launched a “no-rinse” conditioner line across Europe to reduce water waste and challenge consumers to make their daily beauty routine more sustainable. The line includes four formulas that are manufactured in carbon-neutral “waterloop factories” and packaged in cardboard-integrated tubes with 75% less plastic. Each tube has a 92% smaller carbon footprint and saves an estimated 100 liters of water. (Jan 2022)

SUNTORY GROUP — Committed to (Jan 2022):

Reducing the water intensity of its production at owned plants by 35% by 2030 and 50% by 2050—more than double its previously met goal of a 15% reduction
Replenishing more water than it uses in at least 50% of its owned plants by 2030 and 100% of its owned plants by 2050, through local water-source conservation efforts
Collaborating with suppliers to improve water-use efficiency in the production of water-intensive key ingredients in water-stressed areas (by 2030)
Expanding water education programs and initiatives to provide safe water access for over 1 million people by 2030

List of Business Action: Water & Watersheds, 2021-2019 (PDF)

Business Action: Ocean

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Tuna Transparency Pledge — This global initiative launched by The Nature Conservancy aims to unite actors throughout the tuna supply chain to achieve 100% on-the-water monitoring on all industrial tuna vessels by 2027 to help identify and end illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Initial signatories include Walmart, Albertsons Companies, and Thai Union, and the governments of Belize and the Federated States of Micronesia. The Nature Conservancy is seeking additional signatories. (April 2024)

OCEANOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE »

Ebb Carbon announced deployment of its ocean carbon dioxide removal (CDR) system at the U.S. Department of Energy’s only marine lab. The system processes seawater, passing it through a series of membranes to remove acid from the water. The water can then absorb additional CO2 from the air and store it as bicarbonate, according to the company. Ebb is currently running experiments to measure and model how much CO2 is removed from the air from this process. (Aug 2023)

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ØRSTED — Announced a new biodiversity initiative called ReCoral by Ørsted™ that will determine whether the company’s offshore wind turbines can serve as habitat for threatened indigenous corals. In the proof-of-concept phase, the company will partner with the Penghu Marine Biology Research Center to collect surplus coral spawn from the shorelines of the Penghu Islands near Taiwan, incubate the fertilized eggs, then settle the larvae on the bases of four wind turbines near those same islands. The initiative is part of Ørsted’s agenda to create a net-positive biodiversity impact for all new renewable energy projects it commissions from 2030 onward. (May 2022)

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)—consisting of 1,400 government agencies, business associations, NGOs, Indigenous peoples’ organizations, and scientific and academic institutions in over 160 countries—called for a moratorium on deep-seabed mining at its World Conservation Conference last week. (Sept 2021)
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MARS — In partnership with The Nature Conservancy, Mars cat food brand SHEBA is launching the world’s largest coral reef restoration program, aiming to restore over 185,000 square meters of coral reefs globally by 2029. (May 2020)

Credit Suisse partnered with Rockefeller Asset Management to launch an equity fund focused on generating positive outcomes for ocean preservation. The equity fund was designed in partnership with non-profit The Ocean Foundation. (September 2020)
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Business Action: Wetlands

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Amazon announced a set of new sustainability commitments, which include plans to invest $100 million to restore and protect forests, wetlands, and peatlands. (2019)

State of Water and Watersheds: Needs & Opportunities

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Ripple Effects: Quantifying Water Risks in the Apparel Supply Chain (Planet Tracker) — Analyzes the impact of water stress on the apparel supply chain, from raw materials and fiber production, to manufacturing and retail. It finds that much of the apparel supply chain is already operating in areas of moderate to high water stress, and water availability is expected to be increasingly stressed in many key apparel manufacturing regions. However, only 15 of 29 apparel companies examined are reporting their water impacts to the CDP, and just 17 of 42 companies in fashion supply chains are. Water stress is a risk both to apparel companies and investors. Apparel companies can drive improved water management across the industry, as can financial institutions. The latter should engage with their holdings on water risk and push companies to publicly disclose their water use and risk, as well as support engagement with the textile supply chain to address its water use. The report also includes an interactive dashboard that allows users to evaluate the level of water stress a brand’s apparel suppliers face (including a 2050 forecast). (April 2024)

GREENBIZ »

Decarbonizing Water: Applying the Voluntary Carbon Market toward Global Water Security (University of Colorado Boulder and Castalia Advisors) — Across the water sector, which produces 10% of global carbon emissions, the potential for carbon credits generated from water projects is more than 1.6 billion tons of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) per year, according to this report commissioned by WaterAid, the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative, and HSBC.

It finds that delivering improvements across the sector (e.g. wastewater treatment, drinking water treatment, and irrigation) could improve water security while generating large carbon credit emission reductions. However, the research did not determine where, within the sector, are projects economically viable without additional funding, subsidies, or policy support. There are also key questions still to be answered around additionality within the sector and standards methodology. But harnessing voluntary carbon markets within the sector could achieve “a triple win”: emissions reductions, improved water security, and improved access to safe water and sanitation. (March 2024)

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Stewardship at the Source: Driving water action across supply chains (CDP) — Analyzes CDP disclosures around water security, based on 3,163 companies with annual revenue of over $250 million that responded to CDP. Key findings (March 2024):

50% of companies (1,542) said they are engaging their supply chain on water risks, including inserting water requirements into contracts, collecting data, and collaborating on innovation.
1 in 5 companies report supply chain water risks estimated to total $77 billion (across 623 responding companies).
$7 billion was deemed to be at immediate risk due to urgent water scarcity, flood, regulatory and reputational issues (across 79 companies).
Those companies that assess risks in their supply chain are seven times more likely to report water-related supply chain risks and take measures to mitigate them.
4% of companies are setting global water-related targets for their supply chain.
14% of companies offer their senior leaders incentives to improve water management across the supply chain, and 4% provide direct financial incentives to their chief procurement officers.

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Exposing Water Risk: How do Textile Brands think about Water Risk? (Planet Tracker) — Analyzes how 29 major apparel brands perceive water-related risks, drawing on 3,947 documents, transcripts, and filings from apparel-related companies. 90% of examined documents failed to mention water-related risks. The mentions of water-related risks did increase notably between 2018 and 2022, growing from 2,000 to over 9,000 mentions. However, the quality of water-related risk disclosures has remained relatively flat. The majority of mentions came from non-luxury brands (69%), then luxury brands (29%), while companies operating primarily as apparel retailers showed limited mention of water-related risks (2%). 15 of 29 brands did report to CDP on water usage. (Feb 2024)

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At least 16% of the world’s land-based critical mineral mines, deposits, and districts are located in areas already facing high or extremely high levels of water stress, according to new research by World Resources Institute. Critical mineral mining can be extremely water intensive and polluting, further straining limited freshwater supplies. A further 8% of global critical mineral locations are in arid and low-water use areas. (Feb 2024)

Valuing Water Finance Initiative Benchmark (Ceres) — Assesses the water stewardship practices of 72 focus companies in four water-intensive industries (food, beverage, apparel, and high-tech). Key findings include (Oct 2023):

75% of the companies have set time-bound targets to reduce water usage, but only 17% have set water quality targets.
35% of the companies consider local context when assessing water use risks, and just 14% when assessing water quality risks.
Only 13% of the companies have time-bound targets to protect or restore ecosystems with specific consideration of outcomes related to freshwater supplies and aquatic biodiversity.
About half of the companies have board and senior management oversight of water management strategies and also link incentives for executives to water targets and goals.
36% of the companies integrate water risks and opportunities into strategic business planning for both direct operations and supply chains.
32% of the companies advocate explicitly around water-related issues with governments, businesses, civil societies, or other stakeholders.
Only 11% of assessed companies utilize an internal price on water.

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High Cost of Cheap Water (WWF) — This first ever annual estimate of the economic value of water and freshwater ecosystems estimates these at $58 trillion, about 60% of global GDP in 2021. Direct economic benefits for households, irrigated agriculture, and industries add up at least $7.5 trillion annually, with indirect benefits like water purification, enhancing soil health, storing carbon, and protecting communities adding to around $50 trillion. The study also finds that the degradation of rivers, lakes, wetlands, and aquifers is threatening these values and undermining action on climate and nature. Water risks to economies are growing, with 46% of global GDP possibly coming from high-water risk areas by 2050, up from 10% today. The report advocates for increasing investment in sustainable water infrastructure, including improving degraded rivers and wetlands to protect intact freshwater ecosystems, and for businesses to improve efficiency, water stewardship, transparency, and collaboration. (October 2023)

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Ecolab Watermark Study (Ecolab) — Examines the state of water stewardship through water’s importance, usage, connection to climate and responsibility among key consumer populations around the world. Results include (October 2023):

Access to clean and safe water is seen as a leading environmental concern for consumers across the globe, including 92% of respondents in Latin America, 85% in China, 81% in the U.S, and 72% in Europe.
While consumers hold governments and businesses most responsible for water conservation, only 42-46% believed they actually cared, in Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the U.S.
Most consumers believe that industry has no clear plan to address water scarcity, including 82% in China, 78% in Latin America, 66% in Europe, and 65% in the U.S.
Consumers are willing to stop purchasing products that require a significant amount of water to produce, as well as pay more for goods that are made using sustainable business practices, particularly in China (85%) and Latin America (81%).

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A Global Rise in Alluvial Mining Increases Sediment Load in Tropical Rivers (Nature) — Analyzes 37 years of satellite data and finds pervasive and increasing river mineral mining worldwide. This first global synthesis of the footprint of river mining and its impacts on hydrologic systems finds that of mining-affected rivers, 80% have suspended sediment concentrations more than double pre-mining levels. In all, 59,000 kilometers (36,700 miles) of tropical rivers have been damaged by mining. Increased suspended sediment loads can reduce water clarity and cause siltation to levels that may cause disease and mortality in fish, poor water quality, and damage to human infrastructure. (Sept 2023)

Wastewater: Turning Problem to Solution (United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)) — Wastewater is a growing health and environmental threat, but with the right policies, wastewater could provide alternative energy to half a billion people, supply over 10 times the water provided by current global desalination capacity and offset over 10% of global fertilizer use. Currently only 11% of wastewater produced is reused each year (40 billion m3/year out of 360 billion m3/year produced), while around half remains untreated. The report proposes finding ways to reduce the volume of wastewater produced, prevent and reduce contamination, and sustainably manage wastewater for resource recovery and reuse. Beyond reducing wastewater, effectively collecting, treating, and reusing wastewater would create new jobs and revenue streams. The report urges governments and businesses to treat wastewater as a circular economy opportunity, rather than a problem to be disposed of, for example: irrigation; capturing methane produced from wastewater (which is just below the amount produced by the aviation industry) as biogas; raw materials for certain industries; and reusing nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium from wastewater to reduce dependence on synthetic fertilizer. (Aug 2023)

A vision for integrated, collaborative solutions to critical water and food challenges (Journal of Soil and Water Conservation) — Offers a 30-year long research vision on how to address the most critical water challenges across the U.S. The paper, written by more than 40 leading U.S. agricultural and water scientists, details some of the most serious challenges (supply shortages, flood risk, and water quality) and offers a “foundational approach” to balance the water demands of people, agriculture, and ecosystems. The three components entail: 1) partnership and collaboration; 2) a sound research approach leveraging new technologies and integrative methods; and 3) decision support through sharing data and developing tools tied to users’ needs. It concludes with listing other complementary and transdisciplinary research necessary to address water sustainability. (May 2023)

UN World Water Development Report 2023: Partnerships and Cooperation for Water (UNESCO) — Two billion people do not have safe drinking water and 3.6 billion lack access to safely managed sanitation (26% and 46% of the population respectively). The global urban population facing water scarcity is projected to double from 930 million in 2016 to 1.7–2.4 billion people in 2050. This year’s report focuses on how building partnerships and enhancing cooperation across all dimensions of sustainable development are essential to accelerating progress towards realizing the human rights to water and sanitation (SDG 6). The report reviews the history of partnerships (good and bad), highlighting how enhancing positive and meaningful cooperation amongst the water, sanitation and broader development communities is required to accelerate progress. The report explores specific partnerships across regions and across sectors, including: food and agriculture, industry, sanitation, and settlements. It also looks at how to accelerate change including through financing, innovation, education, data monitoring, and governance. (March 2023)

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Riding the Wave: Global Water Report 2022 (CDP) — Shows how tackling water security offers companies significant unexplored commercial opportunities worth at least $436 billion. This is in contrast to the financial impact of water risks (such as shortages or pollution), which were estimated at $392 billion. This comes from the 2022 corporate water security dataset, which included reporting from 3,909 companies, an increase of 85% over the past five years. Over 1,500 companies disclosed opportunities, including accessing new water-related markets, water efficiency, new products and services, and ensuring supply chains are resilient against water impacts. With more reporting, these opportunities could be valued as much higher, possibly $1.09 trillion, if all 3,909 reporting companies have similar opportunities. (March 2023)

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The global energy system used around 370 billion cubic meters (bcm) of freshwater in 2021, or roughly 10% of total global freshwater withdrawals, according to the International Energy Agency. (March 2023)

The essential drop to Net-Zero: Unpacking freshwater’s role in climate change mitigation (Stockholm International Water Institute) — Sustainable water management across sectors is essential to achieve Paris Agreement mitigation targets. The report identifies high-potential opportunities for water-related mitigation action, and examines water-related risks to mitigation efforts, including (Dec 2022):

Climate mitigation measures depend on freshwater resources;
Climate mitigation measures can have both positive and negative impacts on freshwater;
Water and sanitation management can reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
Nature based climate solutions can provide benefits to people and the environment;
And joint water and climate governance needs to be coordinated and strengthened.

State of Global Water Resources 2021 (World Meteorological Organization) — WMO published its first annual State of Global Water Resources report to assess the effects of climate, environmental and societal change on the Earth’s water resources. The report provides an overview of river flow and major floods and droughts. Key findings include (Dec 2022):

The area with below-average streamflow (water flowing through rivers) was approximately two times larger than the above-average area, in comparison to the 30-year hydrological average;
Terrestrial water storage was below normal on the U.S. west coast, in the central and southern parts of South America, in North Africa and Madagascar, Central Asia and the Middle East, and Pakistan and North India. It was above normal in the central part of Africa, the northern part of South America, specifically the Amazon basin, and the northern part of China;
Overall water storage is shrinking, driven by over-abstraction of groundwater and the melting of snow and ice.

Boosting Business: Why Investing in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Pays Off (Water Aid) — Highlights the value of investing in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) to both companies and employees. In cooperation with Diageo, Gap, HSBC, Twinings, and ekaterra, Water Aid conducted a pilot program between 2018 and 2022 investigating the benefits of WASH investments in ten workplaces across four sectors in India (5 total), Bangladesh (3), Kenya (1), and Tanzania (1). Results include these benefits from WASH interventions (Aug 2022):

Absenteeism fell 29% in leather tanneries in India.
Productivity increased 27% in tea estates in India.
31% of garment-factory employees in Bangladesh had access to safely managed water and 26% had safely managed sanitation at the end of the study, both up from 0%.
Assuming a continued investment, the ROI of WASH programs over a ten-year period would be $4.40 per every dollar invested in the six apparel and leather factories in Bangladesh and India, and $7.37 in the three tea estates in India and Kenya.

2022 Water Report (Black & Veatch) — Analyzes a survey of over 300 stakeholders in U.S. water, wastewater, and stormwater sectors to identify the biggest challenges faced by the industry. Findings include (Aug 2022):

Aging infrastructure continues to be the top concern. While the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act earmarks $82.5 billion in critical water investments, research by the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates $2.2 trillion is needed over the next 20 years.
An aging workforce is a growing concern, with the median age at 42.8 years. Growing numbers of retirements threaten the loss of staff, expertise, and institutional history. This ranked fourth in the listing of most challenging issues facing the industry, compared to 14th in 2017.
“System resilience” appeared as an issue for the first time, ranking 9th. More utilities are showing interest in climate change adaptation and mitigation, setting ESG goals, and measuring sustainability and resilience.
Effectively managing and leveraging data is a concern, with only 27% of respondents stating that they’re “collecting lots of data that is leveraged effectively.”
Another growing concern is cybersecurity. 75% of respondents now see prioritizing investments in cybersecurity as “very important,” compared to 43% in 2012. Roughly 60% of respondents report having a robust cybersecurity system, while about 40% acknowledge “there may be gaps.”

High and Dry: How Water Issues are Stranding Assets (Planet Tracker and CDP, commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment — Reveals that investors are facing significant stranded-asset risks from companies reliant on abundant, clean water amidst a worsening global freshwater crisis. The UN has predicted a 40% global shortfall in water supply by 2030, based on current trends; But this study finds that many global companies in the electric utilities, coal, metals & mining, and oil & gas sectors are failing to factor water security into their strategic decision-making—and into risk disclosures for investors. Highlights and recommendations from this first-of-its-kind report include (May 2022):

$13.5 billion has already been stranded in just two projects—the Keystone oil pipeline and the Pascua-Lama gold mine—with another $2.1 billion at imminent riskin other projects.
One third of financial firms report that they are not assessing the implications of water insecurity during their investment or loan decisions.
The potential for future stranded assets is far greater than losses to date. The top 20 global ultimate owners (GUOs), made up of financial institutions and national governments, hold a combined $2.7 trillion in equity in the world’s 42 most water-impactful companies.
The concentration of equity investments suggests that action by just a small number of shareholders could have a significant impact in driving the most water-impactful companies to value water appropriately.

Disclosure and increased water transparency across the financial sector will help to avoid the worst consequences of the water crisis and may contribute to actively stemming it.

The Global Assessment of Private Sector Impacts on Water (Ceres and Valuing Water Initiative) — A first-of-its-kind report using scientific literature to identify the sectors, industries, and business practices that are largely responsible for driving five critical threats to global freshwater systems: groundwater depletion, metal contamination, plastic pollution, water diversion and transfer, and eutrophication (excessive richness of nutrients). The report offers institutional investors insight into how systemic water and climate threats pose long-term financial risks and provides practical steps to help companies revert their impact. (April 2022)

List of State of Water & Watersheds: Needs & Opportunities, 2021-2019 (PDF)

State of the Ocean: Needs & Opportunities

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The Ocean as a Solution to Climate Change (High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy) — Finds that full implementation of off-the-shelf ocean-based climate solutions could help the world avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Use of such solutions could reduce the “emissions gap” by up to 35% on a 1.5°C pathway in 2050, or four times the annual emissions of EU countries. The solutions available include reducing barriers to using ocean-based renewable energy; increasing the use of energy-efficient ocean transport designs and advancing the development of low-carbon fuels; conserving existing “blue carbon” ecosystems (mangroves, seagrass beds, and salt marshes) to prevent further release of GHG emissions and scaling up restoration efforts; reducing the emissions intensity of fisheries and aquaculture operations and shifting diets toward low-carbon marine sources such as sustainably harvested fish; and investing in research to minimize environmental impacts of long-term storage of carbon in the seabed. (Sept 2023)

Ocean heat content reached a record high in 2022, following the previous record high in 2021, according to a new study in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. The upper 2,000 meters of the ocean gained about 10 zetajoules of heat last year, about 100 times the world’s electricity generation in 2021. The salinity-contrast index also reached a record high level in 2022, which has impacts on how global hydrological cycles will shift (including worsened drought and more extreme precipitation events). (Jan 2023)

Toward Responsible and Informed Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal (World Resources Institute) — Distills the potential scale of carbon dioxide removal (CDR), expected costs, risks, co-benefits, and areas of research needed for seven ocean CDR approaches, including coastal blue carbon restoration, seaweed cultivation, ocean fertilization, alkalinity enhancement, electrochemical approaches, artificial upwelling, and artificial downwelling. The report proposes an overall approach centered on informed and responsible development and deployment of ocean CDR that balances the urgency of emissions reductions against the environmental and social risks of ocean CDR, including halting development where risks outweigh expected benefits. (Nov 2022)

What Ocean Sustainability Means for Business (World Economic Forum) — Highlights the positive change and growth possible with businesses and the G20 aiding in accelerating a sustainable ocean economy. The report outlines important initial steps that companies can take to contribute to a sustainable ocean economy. Making business operations more ocean-friendly, using influence to strengthen ocean governance and involving all stakeholders, can help advance a sustainable ocean economy. (Nov 2022)

A new article in the journal Communications Earth and Environment found that the Arctic has been warming nearly four times faster than the global average since 1979. This is faster than scientists had previously estimated, one that has been systematically underestimated by climate models. Some sea areas, such as near the Russian archipelago Novaya Zemlya, are warming seven times faster. This warming differential could lead to more extreme weather events and to positive feedback loops as the melting of arctic sea ice and thawing of permafrost accelerate and worsen climate change. (Aug 2022)

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The World Economic Forum’s Friends of Ocean Action coalition (FOA)—made up of more than 70 cross-sector leaders from around the world working to solve pressing threats to the oceans—has published a “landscape scan” examining existing studies and data relevant to the funding of SDG14, the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for the oceans. SDG14 is currently the least funded of all the SDGs, so the FOA has identified funding gaps and opportunities to help ensure successful fulfillment of SDG14. Paramount among the report’s recommendations (June 2022):

Current reporting on project progress is fragmented and inconsistent. To make the most of current funding will require a more robust and integrated data collection process.
More comprehensive and comparable project data will, in turn, make it easier to adopt a outcomes-based approach to future funding. Reaching SDG14 targets requires not only increasing investment, but also directing resources to places and communities that need it most and/or are doing the most effective work.

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The US coastline is projected to see a 10- to 12-inch rise in sea level by 2050—as much as the sea level rose during the previous hundred years, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report. Moderate flooding ⁠is projected to occur over 10 times as often as it does today. (Feb 2022)

Ocean's Future to 2050: A Sectoral and Regional Forecast of the Blue Economy (DNV) — Identifies key trends shaping the development of the “Blue Economy” (an emerging economic term relating to sustainable use of ocean resources) and provides a forecast for what ocean-based industries may look like by 2050. Highlights (Dec 2021):

Offshore wind will overtake the oil and gas sector to receive the largest investments in the Blue Economy and provide roughly the same amount of energy as offshore oil today
There will be a 9-fold increase in demand for ocean space for aquaculture and energy production, requiring roughly 368,000 square kilometers of the ocean surface
The Blue Economy will be dominated by Asia
The energy transition and increasing purchasing power of Asia will alter the outlook for the shipping industry
Aquaculture production to match capture fisheries by 2050, with seafood only accounting for 9% of global protein demand

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The Paris Climate Agreement and Future Sea-Level Rise From Antarctica (Nature) — Showcases how future sea-level rise rates are closely tied to how quickly GHG emissions are reduced in the near term. If global warming is limited to 1.5 °C, Antarctica will contribute about 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) to global sea-level rise by 2100. Whereas, if warming rises to 3 °C or above, global sea level could rise between 15 - 34 centimeters (6 - 13.4 inches) by the end of the century. Additional coverage by Axios. (May 2021)

Protecting The Global Ocean For Biodiversity, Food And Climate (Nature) — Finds bottom trawling, the practice of dragging nets along the ocean floor to catch shrimp, whiting, cod and other fish, may release as much CO2 as the global aviation industry. It also found strategically conserving some marine areas would safeguard imperiled species and sequester significant amounts of CO2. (March 2021)

“Stop Ghost Gear: The Most Deadly Form of Marine Plastic Debris” (WWF, October 2020) finds that abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear accounts for at least 10% of marine litter. The report also finds that fishing gear accounts for 46% of marine litter in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

“Breaking the Plastic Wave: A Comprehensive Assessment of Pathways Towards Stopping Ocean Plastic Pollution” (SYSTEMIQ and The Pew Charitable Trusts, July 2020) finds that, under a Business-as-Usual scenario, annual flows of plastic into the ocean could nearly triple by 2040. The report also finds that current major industry and government commitments, if fully met, would only reduce annual rates of plastic pollution flowing into the ocean by 7%, compared to the Business-as-Usual scenario. However, the report highlights that the world could reduce the current trajectory in the flow of plastic into the ocean by 80% by 2040 if we apply and robustly invest in all the technologies, management practices, and policy approaches currently available—including reduction, recycling, and plastic substitution. Here is a link to a one-page summary of “fast facts”from the report.

Read Detailed CEF Summary

“Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate” (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Sep 2019) examines current and future impacts of global warming on the ocean and cryosphere, the risks and opportunities these changes bring to ecosystems and people, and options for reducing future risks. Select key findings included the following:

The global ocean has warmed unabated since 1970 and has taken up more than 90% of the excess heat in the climate system.
Marine heatwaves have very likely doubled in frequency since 1982 and are increasing in intensity.
The Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets are projected to lose mass at an increasing rate throughout the 21st century and beyond. Strong reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades are projected to reduce further changes after 2050.
Over the 21st century, the ocean is projected to transition to unprecedented conditions with increased temperatures, greater upper ocean stratification, furtheracidification, oxygen decline, and altered net primary production.
Sea level continues to rise at an increasing rate. Extreme sea level events that are historically rare (once per century in the recent past) are projected to occur frequently (at least once per year) at many locations by 2050.

Tools

Risk Assessment: Water

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The latest sigma study from the Swiss Re Institute shows a total global economic loss of USD 270 billion and insured losses of USD 111 billion from natural disasters in 2021, the fourth highest on sigma records. (April 2022)

Flooding events were the most frequently occurring disaster event, and global economic losses from floods amounted to USD 82 billion in 2021, with insured losses at slightly more than USD 20 billion, indicating a large protection gap.
Floods affected nearly a third of the world’s population and are predicted to increase with climate change and urbanization.
Swiss Re's infographic provides additional information about the protection gap and the risk profiles of ten countries (Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, U.K., and the U.S.).

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The 4th National Risk Assessment: Climbing Commercial Closures (First Street Foundation and Arup) — Assesses flood-related risks over the next 30 years to 3.6 million commercial properties across the United States. Key findings (Dec 2021):

A total of 729,699 retail, office, and multi-unit residential properties is at risk of flood damage in the contiguous United States
The annual costs to repair or replace damaged buildings could grow by roughly 25%, from $13.5 billion in 2022 to over $16.9 billion by 2052 due to climate change
Flood damage to commercial buildings could result in 3.1 million days of lost business operation in 2022 due to repairs, growing to 4 million days by 2051 – an increase of 29%
The annualized financial impact on local economies is expected to grow by 26.5%, from $49.9 billion in 2022 to $63.1 billion in 2052

About 25% of critical US infrastructure is at risk of becoming inoperable in the next 30 years due to flooding, according to First Street Foundation’s new national inventory of flood risk. Nearly 1 million commercial properties have “operational risk.” (Oct 2021)
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Flood Risk Index (Tomorrow.io) — A new platform identifies the risk of urban and river flooding anywhere in the world up to 5 days in advance. The platform can alert company or city personnel if the risk exceeds certain criteria, as well as recommend pre-programmed actions (e.g., closing floodgates to protect infrastructure). (Sept 2021)
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Water Watch: CDP’s Water Impact Index (CDP) — A new index measures over 200 industrial activities’ potential impact on water quantity and water quality across the value chain. Investors and financial institutions can use it to assess their portfolios’ potential impact on water resources and security, and companies can use it to assess their supply and value chain’s potential water impact. (Aug 2021)
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Doconomy's cloud-based Åland Index, which provides users and financial institutions with carbon footprint calculations for every transaction, now includes freshwater impact calculations for everyday purchases. (June 2021)
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WaterLOUPE 2.0 (Kimberly-Clark) — An open-source tool to help communities analyze local risks to freshwater resources and create sustainable mitigation strategies. Co-developed between Kimberly-Clark and Dutch research institute Deltares, the WaterLOUPE dashboard depicts water scarcity risks for an entire watershed due to the impacts of climate change, population growth, and other factors over a 30-year time horizon. This updated version adds a scenario modeling capability, which helps users quantify water shortage, risk reduction, and economic consequences of potential solutions and choose the best strategy to close the water scarcity gap. (March 2021)

4.3 million residential homes in the U.S. face substantial flood risk, and if the National Flood Insurance Program insured all of these homes, their rates would increase 4.5 times in 2021 and 7.2 times by 2051, according to a new report by the First Street Foundation: The Cost of Climate: America’s Growing Flood Risk. (March 2021)

Coastal flooding and rising sea levels could endanger more than 250 million people and nearly $13 trillion worth of coastal buildings and infrastructure by the end of the century, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Melbourne. The study also estimates that nearly 204 million people and $11 billion in assets could be exposed to coastal flooding and rising sea levels by 2050. (August 2020)

“Troubled Waters” (BlackRock Investment Institute, July 2020) finds that roughly 60% of global real estate investment trust (REIT) properties are projected to experience high water-stress by 2030 due to increased urbanization and the effects of climate change — which is more than double the number today. The report also finds that roughly two-thirds of today’s U.S. REIT properties will be at high risk of water stress by 2030 and almost all REIT properties in Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia will likely be in high risk water zones by 2030. Read Detailed CEF Summary

Water Risk Monetizer (Ecolab, Microsoft and Trucost) is a free, web-based tool that calculates a water risk premium for a particular facility based on what water would cost if it were valued based on supply and demand, taking into account water’s full value to communities and the environment. (Feb 2020)

Investor Water Toolkit (Ceres) is a guide to help investors evaluate and take action on water risks in their investment portfolios. The Toolkit includes links to resources, databases, case studies, and more. (2019)

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The True Cost of Water Toolkit 3.0 (Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER)) — This excel sheet helps beverage facilities estimate their true cost of water, factoring in the many less direct costs of water beyond water and sewer bills (such as energy to heat, cool, and transport water, chemicals, and discharge costs). It includes both a simple and detailed calculation worksheet, as well as a new water stress multiplier to help facilities quantitatively assess how future water stress will affect their true cost of water. (March 2024)

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Marine Sand Watch (GRID-Geneva/United Nations Environment Programme) — This first-ever global data platform tracks and monitors dredging activities of sand, clay, silt, gravel, and rock in the world’s marine environment, including hotspots like the North Sea, Southeast Asia, and the U.S. East Coast. The new platform provides information on areas used for sand extraction (sand concessions), areas of capital and maintenance dredging, sand trading ports/hubs, number of vessels and operators, and extraction of sediment and other types of activities. The platform estimates between 4 and 8 billion tons of sand and other sediments are dredged every year in the marine and coastal environment. (Sept 2023)

Development of a Company-Level Cost-Benefit Analysis Framework (Ceres and Bluerisk) — This brief introduces a new cost-benefit analysis framework for companies to assess the full value of water stewardship interventions across their value chain. This enables companies and investors to gain a more complete financial picture, better understand the full value of water, and prioritize action where it matters most, to the company and to society. The brief includes a case study to understand the value of a full assessment, including cost-sharing approaches; value chain interventions; and investing in water stewardship’s positive societal return. (Aug 2023)

Business Guidance on the Assessment of Wastewater-related Impacts and Wastewater Impact Assessment Tool (WBCSD) — WBCSD launched these two tools at the UN Water Conference. The guidance provides an approach for measuring the impacts of wastewater on climate, biodiversity, and water security. Three sets of independent metrics are proposed for the calculation of impact. The metrics are there to guide the evaluation of the impact of action in facilities and supply chains as well as to monitor progress on Wastewater Zero commitments. The Wastewater Impact Assessment Tool allows users to understand which aspects of wastewater treatment within a facility cause major changes in terms of water quality, water availability, and greenhouse gas emissions. The tool displays the local water security context on maps and uses some of these global indicators, together with local data on industrial withdrawals, discharge and pollution load, to assess the changes caused by the facility’s wastewater management and point to possible interventions . (March 2023)

Wastewater Zero Commitment: Guidance Document (World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)) — Provides guidance for WBCSD’s new Wastewater Zero Commitment mechanism to drive business action for reducing impacts of wastewater on climate, biodiversity, and water security. The three pillars of this commitment are: treating all wastewater and releasing no hazardous substances into the environment; increasing the proportion of water reused and recycled; and adopting low carbon wastewater treatment processes. The guidance describes the commitment and its three pillars, who can join the commitment, benefits of joining, the commitment’s requirements, tools to track progress, and its linkage to global initiatives and policies. (March 2023)

Water Circularity Good Practices Guide — This guidance, developed by the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER), is designed to help make water circularity, at the basin scale, a part of business’s water strategy. It outlines an easy-to-follow process to achieve water circularity, including important considerations when shifting from on-site techniques to off-site circularity endeavors. It explores five key steps to coordinate sustainable watershed-level impact over the long-term, including monitoring, partnerships, accountability, reporting, and being dynamic. (Jan 2023)

Climate Intelligence — Ecolab and Siemens launched this new tool that lets utilities and industrial businesses virtually model different scenarios across their water and energy systems to identify opportunities to conserve water and power while also lowering their greenhouse gas emissions. Combining modeling with plant data, the tool has reduced average plant CO2 emissions by tens of thousands of metric tons per year, while reducing energy costs, without additional capital expenditure. (Oct 2022)

MARS — Committed to achieving “water balance” at 5 of its manufacturing sites by 2025through reducing water stress and reusing wastewater. It also joined the UN Global Compact CEO Water Mandate’s Water Resilience Coalition. (Sept 2021)
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Water Flow Intelligence (Ecolab) — A new digital solution providing industry with real-time visibility of water usage at the enterprise, site, and asset levels. Powered by ECOLAB3D™—a cloud-based digital platform—it helps companies discover water savings opportunities with industry-leading expertise, asset performance insights, and leak and flow analysis. (May 2021)

Smart Water Navigator (EcoLab) — An enhanced version of the free online tool to help businesses understand the value of water in their operations and take action to achieve corporate water goals. Following an automated analysis of water use, the tool helps users set informed, context-based goals that consider water basin health in surrounding communities and environments. New features include: benchmarking across a portfolio of facilities; identifying water withdrawal targets and risks; and evaluating performance over time. (March 2021)

ECOLAB3D is a cloud-based digital platform developed by Ecolab with support from Microsoft and Accenture aimed at helping businesses improve asset performance and reduce water use. The platform provides real-time alerts, optimizes plant operations, and benchmarks performance across company sites.

“CEO Guide to Water: Building Resilient Business” (WBCSD, 2018) offers insight into water-related business risks and opportunities to help business leaders make the case for increased investment in sustainable water management. The report also proposes a seven-step framework to help business leaders with the transition to a more robust water stewardship strategy.

Collaboration

Ocean Collaboration

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The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), a network including 45 countries that represent over 75% of the world’s coral reefs, has launched the Coral Reef Breakthrough. This initiative aims to secure the future of at least 125,000 km2 of shallow-water tropical coral reefs with investments of at least $12 billion by 2030 from public and private sources. Additional goals include stopping the drivers of reef loss, doubling the area of reefs under effective protection, and accelerating restoration. (Oct 2023)

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A coalition of five conservation and biodiversity-focused organizations (led by WWF) has launched an initiative that will convene a group of like-minded investors to conduct targeted engagement with key seafood companies in order to reduce overfishing and habitat conversion from seafood value chains. In its first phase, the investor action group will focus on engaging seafood companies on best practice sustainability efforts, such as: developing full-chain traceability systems, reducing bycatch and discards, reducing food loss and waste, and working towards meeting globally recognized standards. The launch follows the publication by WWF of an assessment of 42 asset managers’ seafood-specific environmental and social expectations for investee companies (of which only one asset manager had a policy). WWF has also just launched an e-learning course to support banks and investors, Seafood Sustainability 101 for Finance Professionals, which is now open for enrollment. (March 2023)

Sea Change Impact Finance Facility (SCIFF) — A new global finance initiative to deploy hundreds of millions of dollars into coastal and ocean natural capital by 2030. Spearheaded by the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance, SCIFF will include a Blue Resilience Clearing House (a marketplace to match potential investments with projects), a Risk Reduction Mechanism (to develop insurance products), and an Umbrella Facility (to support existing impact funds, provide project technical assistance, and provide finance for higher-risk areas such as offshore renewables). CEF Member Bank of America is among the private-sector participants. (Feb 2022)

Alexandra Cousteau’s Oceans 2050 launched a 15-month research effort that aims to quantify the carbon sequestration impact of seaweed aquaculture across seaweed farms on five continents. Following the study, Oceans 2050 will develop a methodology that enables seaweed farmers to issue carbon credits to global buyers on the voluntary carbon offset market. (October 2020)

The Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship initiative — which represents 10 of the world’s largest seafood companies — has joined the Global Ghost Gear Initiative, a global alliance to address the abandoned, lost and discarded fishing nets, lines and traps that are left in our oceans every year. The companies committed to the initiative include Maruha Nichiro, Nissui, Thai Union, Mowi ASA, Dongwon, Skretting, Cargill, Cermaq, Kyokuyo, and Charoen Pokphand Foods. (2019)

SC Johnson has entered a three-year partnership with Plastic Bank to create the recycling infrastructure needed in five countries to limit the amount of plastic entering the ocean. As a result, SC Johnson will become the first company to incorporate 100% recycled “Social Plastic” collected by Plastic Bank into its products. (2019)

The UN Global Compact announced that 30 companies and institutional investors have signed on to the Sustainable Ocean Principles, which aim to help companies prevent pollution, manage use of marine resources, and improve transparency on ocean-related activities and impacts. Signatory companies include Cisco Systems, PepsiCo, and more. (2019)

A coalition of 32 fashion companies — including Kering and Nike — have signed the Fashion Pact, which sets out global commitments to address climate change, biodiversity, and the ocean. As part of the Pact, the signatory companies commit to implement Science-Based Targets on climate and drive corporate actions to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, support the development of Science-Based Targets on biodiversity and implement these targets in their sector, and significantly reduce the negative impacts that their sector has on the ocean environment. (2019)

Water & Watershed Collaboration

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Freshwater Accountability Accelerator — This new effort, led by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, will support companies to deliver on ambitious freshwater commitments and ensure disclosures are aligned with emerging frameworks and standards. This accelerator will help streamline application guidance by providing technical support and clarification of data requirements. (March 2023)

The Valuing Water Finance Initiative — An initial 64 institutional investors representing $9.8 trillion in assets under management joined Ceres in launching a new effort to engage 72 of the world’s largest corporate water users and polluters to “value and act on water as a financial risk and drive the necessary large-scale change to better protect water systems.” The initiative is the only global investor-led effort to encourage companies to respond to the water crisis. Specifically, the initiative addresses six areas: water quantity, water quality, ecosystem protection, access to water and sanitation, board oversight, and public policy engagement. Investors are invited to join the initiative. (Aug 2022)

Resilient Water Accelerator Initiative — A new initiative of HRH The Prince of Wales’ Sustainable Markets Initiative to provide 50 million people in water-stressed regions with improved water and sanitation infrastructure and services by 2030. The initiative involves a coalition of organizations—including WaterAid, World Bank, WRI, and U.N.D.P— aiming to scale up and fast-track finance to help alleviate water stress. (March 2021)

A group of companies — including Dow, Ecolab, and Microsoft — have partnered with The CEO Water Mandate to launch the Water Resilience Coalition, a CEO-led initiative that aims to “preserve the world’s freshwater resources through collective action in water-stressed basins and ambitious, quantifiable commitments.” The companies participating in the initiative pledge to build a water resilient value chain and achieve net-positive water impact by 2050. (Mar 2020)

Laura Keenan, Chair

laura@corporateecoforum.com | (617) 921-2307

Amy O’Meara, Executive Director

amy@corporateecoforum.com | ‭(857) 222-8270‬

Mike Rama, Deputy Director

mike@corporateecoforum.com | (607) 287-9236

Margaret Fenwick, Program Lead

margaret@corporateecoforum.com I (917) 678-4161

MR Rangaswami, Founder

mr@corporateecoforum.com | ‭(415) 922-9802

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