How Can Companies Cut their Water Footprint?
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Academic
The panel
- Aaron Burton, director of projects and programmes, Waterwise
- André Fourie, head of water security and environmental value, SABMiller
- Dexter Galvin, head of the supply chain programme, CDP
- Arjen Hoekstra, professor in water management, University of Twente
- Eliza Roberts, manager of the water programme, Ceres
- Moderator - Tess Riley, deputy editor, Guardian Sustainable Business
If you’re interested in joining the panel, email tess.riley@theguardian.com.
What we'll be discussing
Food, clothing, electrical goods, energy – everything we use and consume has a hidden water footprint.
China imports around 30m millions of metric tons of soybeans per year from the US. As each ton needs about 2,000 cubic meters of water to produce, China is also importing billions of cubic metres of virtual (or embedded) water.
While China can benefit from importing water intensive crops, the global trade in virtual water poses a threat to drought prone countries such as India. And rising demand for water especially from the food, clothing and manufacturing sectors is putting further strain on global resources.
Some businesses have been trying to map and manage their embedded water. Clothing company C&A calculated the water footprint for its cotton products in an attempt to reduce water use. While a similar exercise at Tata Motors looked at the company’s local water impact to understand how it was contributing to local water stress. But is enough progress being made?
Join a panel of experts on Tuesday 23 August, 1-2pm (BST), to discuss how companies are addressing virtual water in their supply chains and what progress is being made to reduce the amount of water they use.
Questions we will explore include:
- How can companies monitor and reduce water use?
- How can they engage their suppliers in more sustainable water management?
- What are the hurdles to better water practices and how can these be overcome?
- What policies have helped companies cut the amount of water they use?
- What’s the role of technology in helping reduce water consumption?
How to join in the discussion
Make sure you’re a registered user of the Guardian and join us in the comments section below, which will open on the day of the live chat.
Information
- Website: http://bit.ly/2bnmBkA
- Starts , ends
Taxonomy
- Water Reuse & Recycling
- Water Footprint
- Reuse
- Sustainability
- Water Management