Water for Sustainable Development: the role of Business and Industry

Harnessing the power of cooperation

Brazil has a long and strong tradition in global agenda setting for sustainable and equitable development. The groundbreaking United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED – Earth Summit) convening in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, cemented the foundation for the holistic sustainable development thinking that guides our actions today; and the Rio + 20 Conference was the basis for the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030. In this tradition, the current Brazil Presidency of COP30 focuses on the implementation of climate-smart and green growth initiatives. And Brazil is leading by example through its Green Agenda and National Green Growth Program (PNCV) that aims to position the country as the global green economy leader.

The Earth Summit of 1992 identified nine Major Groups that represent key sectors of society and that have a vital and complementary role in realizing sustainable development, Business and Industry being one of them. This participatory approach and call for concerted action have culminated in SDG17 (Partnerships for the Goals) of the current sustainable development agenda. The private sector is considered a key partner for achieving green growth by providing innovation, knowledge and expertise, investing human and financial resources, and practicing sustainability along the value chain.

Furthermore, water was acknowledged as a ‘conditio sine qua non’ for life and development with Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as the agreed way forward.

With the HORASIS Global Meeting “Harnessing the Power of Cooperation” convening in Sao Paulo, Brazil, what better place to discuss the role of Business and Industry in our collective action for water security.

The major Group Business and Industry is vast and pluriform. From the perspective of water, there are those that have a business in service provision, including in water re-use and conservation. Then there are industries that are water-intensive like agriculture, food and beverage, textiles or energy production and data centers. And other industries are polluting water bodies through chemicals, debris or heat. Investors provide capital with the expectation of financial gain…
Whatever the line of commercial activity, water is everybody’s business.

Water security: a global concern

Until fairly recently, the total amount of freshwater on our planet was considered constant and sufficient to serve all needs. In 2014 however, GRACE satellite images showed an abrupt decline in the freshwater stored on land and in underground aquifers. This decline began with a massive drought in Brazil, followed by major droughts on all continents. The freshwater level has remained at this low for the past decade, indicating that we might have entered  a persistently dryer phase (NASA Earth Observatory, 2024).  Furthermore, the fact that the total amount of freshwater might be sufficient does not mean that availability is guaranteed for all. Freshwater is not evenly distributed across the globe and moves around in complex and changing hydrological cycles.

With the steeply increasing demands of modern societies, this makes water security a global challenge.

To date, over 2 billion people (roughly one quarter of the world population) do not have access to safe drinking water; and a good half of the world’s population experiences water stress for at least part of the year. This threatens people’s health and livelihoods, food and energy security and social stability, and is a high-impact risk for the economy (see for instance the World Water Development Report 2023 and subsequent Global Risks Reports of the World Economic Forum). Furthermore, the effects of pollution and hydrological changes on the environment are manifold, threatening the integrity or even survival of vital ecosystems and the services they provide for humanity.

The main drivers for the growing water stress are climate change, population growth, increased urbanization and unsustainable practices, both in water management and in water uses. The Global Commission on the Economics of Water predicts an average of 8% decline in the GDP of high-income countries by 2050, due to the climate related effects of changing precipitation patterns and raising temperature, declining Total Water Storage (TWS) and lack of access to clean water and sanitation. Lower income countries could even face a drop in GDP of 10 – 15%.

Brazil’s current and future water challenges

Brazil is a water-rich country. It holds around 12 % of the world’s freshwater resources, 75% of which is contained in the vast Amazon river basin. Brazil also counts 27 regional and 12 transboundary aquifers storing immense amounts of freshwater underground. The Greater Amazon Aquifer System (GAAS) for instance, is one of the largest aquifer systems in the world and contains more than 160 trillion cubic meters of freshwater.

Despite this abundance of renewable freshwater resources, amounting to 40.000 m³ per inhabitant (10.000 times the amount a person needs per day), Brazil experiences considerable water stress.  Causes are irregular precipitation, uneven seasonal and spatial distribution and extreme weather events coupled with over extraction, pollution, mismanagement and environmental degradation. The Amazonian rainforest with its flying rivers, which plays a crucial role in the  water cycle of Brazil and Latin America as a whole, is dwindling at an alarming rate.

Furthermore, the approximately 213 million Brazilians mostly live in urban areas in the southern and eastern states of Brazil (97% of the population), while most of the freshwater resides elsewhere.

Water management in Brazil follows the IWRM paradigm resulting in a decentralized and participatory model that is anchored in the National Water Law of 1997. Service provision is the responsibility of state and municipal governments. The National Water and Sanitation Agency (ANA) has the regulatory powers and oversight on behalf of the federal government and is responsible for the implementation of the National Water Resources Management Systems (SINGREH).   A multilevel system of participatory water governance has been put in place with multi-stakeholder river basin committees at the core.

IWRM: systems thinking in water management

While water security is a global concern, the challenges present themselves locally and in very different ways, depending on the social, economic, environmental, geographical and climatological conditions in situ. This makes water security a ‘wicked problem’ that cannot be solved by the water sector alone. This notion of systems thinking, subsidiarity and common but differentiated responsibilities is not new and culminated in the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) that was embraced by the UN Member States in 1992. Since then, countries are gradually moving from a top-down, centralized and linear water supply system to non-linear distributed water management models at the lowest appropriate level.

IWRM is guided by four principles (Dublin/Rio Principles) that integrate the ecological, institutional, social and economic dimension of water management:

• Principle No. 1 – Fresh water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the environment.
  Since water sustains life, effective management of water resources demands a holistic approach, linking social and economic development with protection of natural ecosystems. Effective management links land and water uses across the whole of a catchment area or groundwater aquifer.
• Principle No. 2 – Water development and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policy-makers at all levels.
  The participatory approach involves raising awareness of the importance of water among policymakers and the general public. It means that decisions are taken at the lowest appropriate level, with full public consultation and involvement of users in the planning and implementation of water projects.
• Principle No. 3 – Women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water.
  This pivotal role of women as providers and users of water and guardians of the living environment has seldom been reflected in institutional arrangements for the development and management of water resources. Acceptance and implementation of this principle requires positive policies to address women’s specific needs and to equip and empower women to participate at all levels in water resources programmes, including decision-making and implementation, in ways defined by them.
• Principle No. 4 – Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good.
  Within this principle, it is vital to recognize first the basic right of all human beings to have access to clean water and sanitation at an affordable price. Past failure to recognize the economic value of water has led to wasteful and environmentally damaging uses of the resource. Managing water as an economic good is an important way of achieving efficient and equitable use, and of encouraging conservation and protection of water resources.

Water: the new global currency

Providing sufficient and safe water for all comes at a price. But it should be noted that Dublin/Rio Principle 4 does not necessarily sanction the privatization of water. Water is considered an economic good, not a private good, meaning that profit should not be prioritized over the human right to water and sanitation.

With growing demand and increasing scarcity, it is of paramount importance that the true value of water – including the significant streams of virtual water and the costs of mismanagement and depletion – are adequately featured into economic policy and decision-making and into the business plans of companies. There are frontrunners in water stewardship, especially in the water-intensive industries, that are united in the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) or the CEO Water Mandate and its Water Resilience Coalition.

But on the whole, water still is too much taken for granted.

You never miss the water till the well runs dry.

And our wells are running dry quickly.

Article authored by:

Drs. Alice Bouman-Dentener, Cansu Global; Royal Academy of Science International Trust (RASIT); DiploriA sustainable Development Solutions