The newly launched Water Resilience Coalition is bringing together major global companies to help preserve freshwater resources. Led by the CEO Water Mandate, an initiative of the UN’s Global Compact, members commit to making a positive impact in water stressed basins, to develop and implement resilient practices across their industry, and to provide leadership and advocacy in the field of water resilience.

The seven companies spearheaded the Coalition; AB InBev, Diageo, Dow, Ecolab, Gap, Microsoft and PVH Corp; are all co-founding companies and are supported by the Coca-Cola Company, Heineken, Levi Strauss, and Woolworths who have all pledged their commitment to collective action and net positive impact, and issued a call to action.

Gilbert Houngbo, chair of UN-Water and President, International Fund for Agricultural Development said establishing the coalition was the first step in understanding that collective action in water resilience was vital. “Successfully addressing the water crisis and climate change will require all companies, including large corporations, to realign their business models, products and practices in ways that decouple production and consumption from the depletion of water resources,” he said.

Currently more than 25 per cent of the world’s population live in water-stressed regions and over the next decade, the world will experience a 56 per cent shortfall in freshwater supply, based on projected demand. The social and environmental costs could be high, and as pointed out here, it is also a substantive risk to commerce.

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