Why more companies, development groups and multilateral banks are looking for solutions at the source of the problem
Key takeaways
- Water security – the capacity to provide safe, reliable water supplies and protect against water-related dangers is essential for all human development and economic progress – yet 2.1 billion people don’t have access to safely managed drinking water services.
- Any efforts to address water security at scale requires collaboration across various sectors, including both private and public sectors, as well as civil society.
- Nature-based solutions offer some of the most effective and sustainable ways to improve water security, and they frequently offer additional benefits for communities where they are implemented, including improved agriculture, job creation and climate resilience.
Water, could perhaps be the most precious substance for all aspects of life and human progress. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically call out “Clean Water and Sanitation as Goal 6”. But water security is the bedrock of any sustainable economic and human development.
When it comes to water security, it is important to ask: Are we truly investing in the most effective solutions for our water security challenges? Are we harnessing our collective potential to implement these solutions to the fullest extent?
To answer these questions and unlock the most valuable solutions to our water security challenges, we need to examine the broader context and address the root of the problem – the source of water itself.
Addressing the problem at source
40% of the world’s urban watersheds are experiencing widespread degradation due to deforestation, poor agricultural practices and other unsustainable land uses, which leads to reduced water quality and lower water flows downstream.
pnas.org
Widespread degradation of watersheds around the world is leading to impaired downstream water quality, and diminished and less reliable flows. Deforestation, poor agricultural practices and other unsustainable land uses have caused moderate to high degradation in 40% of the world’s urban watersheds, which leads to reduced water quality and lower water flows downstream.
At the same time, demand for freshwater continues to increase by about 1 percent a year to keep up with a growing population and increased industrial production.
Most communities and institutions rely only on “grey infrastructure,” such as reservoirs, aqueducts, and treatment plants, to meet these and other water security challenges. But often it is more effective – and cost effective – to protect water at its source.
By preserving and restoring our natural infrastructure, healthy forests, wetlands and river ecosystems from which we source our water supplies, we can generate and deliver value in ways that cannot be achieved through grey infrastructure alone.
The global development imperative
Implementing nature-based solutions can help us address water security challenges, while also addressing other challenges to economic and human development, including public health, sustainable job creation, and the myriad of threats posed by climate change – but only if we can mobilize investment on a global scale.
Improved farming practices in watersheds can lead to more food and income for rural communities; restoring forests improves aquifer recharge while also sequestering carbon from the atmosphere; managing overgrown forests to control wildfire protects water supplies from heavy sediment loads and secures local communities, while also creating new sustainable forestry jobs. By providing this broad range of co-benefits, nature-based solutions deliver a wide range of values that go far beyond secure water supplies.
The business imperative
Only 10 percent of global water use is for domestic consumption – the rest goes towards agricultural and industrial uses. Any efforts to address water security issues on a global scale will have to be multi-sector collaborations and the private sector will be a key partner.
$323 Billion: The annual cost estimate of water shortages to our global economy.
SOURCE: WBCSD
According to a recent report by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) more than 2 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water and over 4 billion do not have access to safe sanitation. Inadequate access to water and sanitation costs the global economy USD $323 billion every year. Workers and communities cannot prosper without access to safe water and sanitation.
A Trucost study, from 2017, found that if the full cost of water availability and water-quality impairment had to be absorbed by companies, average profits would be cut by 18% for the chemicals industry, 44% for the utilities sector, and 116% for food and beverage companies.
High-water consumption businesses, like those in the food and beverage industry, face significant challenges. Take the global beverage market, set to reach nearly $2 trillion by 2021. According to Trucost, if these companies fully accounted for the costs of water availability and quality, their profits could drop by an average of 116%.
But there’s a positive twist to this story. Companies like PepsiCo, AB InBev, and The Coca-Cola Company are actively working on water stewardship. They’re investing in nature-based solutions to safeguard the natural water sources crucial for their operations and customers.
Utility companies are in a similar boat, potentially seeing profit declines of up to 44%, according to TruCost. This gives them strong reasons to tackle water security at its source. Take New York City, for instance. By investing modestly in landscape conservation in the Catskills watershed, the city avoided the construction of a costly treatment plant. Now, it boasts the largest unfiltered water supply in North America.
On a global scale, international utilities like Veolia and Suez are adopting similar strategies. They’re conserving wetlands and forests as natural water filters and exploring innovative solutions like using living organisms to detect and remove water pollutants, as well as recycling industrial components to create artificial reefs.
In summary, perhaps most importantly, most nature-based solutions improve not only water security, but also a range of other economic and development challenges. We have the opportunity, with nature-based investments to ensure a sustainable, thriving planet tomorrow.
