YtDl2r

5.1 Companies – become good water stewards!
Companies ultimately bear the consequences of water-related risks. At the
same time, they are also able to mitigate these risks, either in their direct operations
or by setting standards along their supply chains. Many companies have
already recognised water as a strategic resource to their business and have
begun to develop and implement specific water stewardship strategies.
To become good water stewards, German companies should:
»»
Identify their risks, impacts, and responsibilities related to water.
Water risks for German companies are mainly located in other countries,
thus understanding their supply chains and specific risk situation will be the
first step towards risk mitigation – you can’t manage what you can’t measure.
Additionally, it is important to share knowledge about local water problems
with other stakeholders.
»»
Develop sector-specific solutions (e.g. guidelines, tools) with other
companies to mitigate risks and implement them into their internal processes.
For example, in the food sector, one sourcing criteria for the selection of
animal and plant fat producers could be the adherence to water management
standards.
»»
Reduce their water risks by developing and implementing company-specific
water stewardship strategies (e.g. see chapter 4) together
with scientists, NGOs, government agencies, and other stakeholders. Some
industries have already developed sector-specific guidance on water stewardship,
like the IPIECA Water Management Framework’s standards 184 for
oil and gas companies, ICMM’s Water Stewardship Framework M , or the BSR
Standard N in apparel production.
»»
Engage in collective action for sustainable water management together
with regional and local stakeholders in river basins at risk. For example,
food producers,textile producers and retailers should locally engage with
farmers and develop sustainable sourcing solutions. The extractives sector
should engage with mining operators to reduce their impact on local water
resources and quality (e.g. spills on site and along pipelines, toxic wastewater
leakages).
M http://www.icmm.com/water
N https://www.bsr.org/reports/awqwg/BSR_AWQWG_Guidelines-Testing-Standards.pdf
66