Business and water: Navigating a sustainable course

Companies, civil society and governments are all coming to recognise that water management is essential to sustainable development, and increasingly critical in a world facing more acute and more widespread water constraints. While it remains difficult to evaluate the full implications for businesses, it is clear they will be increasingly confronted with uncertainties, tensions and dilemmas in their use of water. At the same time, they will find growing opportunities to provide solutions to enable sustainable water management for all.

To explore the challenges of the future, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Water Working Group has launched a scenario planning process to develop alternative narratives on how water issues might evolve over the next 20 to 25 years. The project will examine the influence of water-related issues on social, economic and environmental development and explore the roles business can play in shaping appropriate actions and outcomes.

These companies believe that ongoing dialogue with stakeholders and experts outside the business community is one of the keys to successfully navigating the future. Several organisations representing varied perspectives, such as health, environment, consumers, local authorities and development are participating in the project.

A team from the Scenarios department of Shell International is providing expertise in scenario planning. Shell is a WBCSD member company that has over 30 years of experience in building and using scenarios.

Related links

World Business Council for Sustainable Development - opens in new window