March 2018: The Global Water Partnership (GWP) has called for private sector involvement in the quest for water security, by integrating corporate water stewardship with integrated water resource management (IWRM). In a GWP position paper titled, ‘Engaging the Private Sector in Water Security,’ the authors report that, while SDG target 6.5 calls for IWRM to be implemented at all levels by 2030, private-sector participation in IWRM does not routinely occur. The authors also note the relevance of SDG 17 on partnerships, in moving from a fragmented approach to water security, to an integrated, multi-stakeholder approach.

The position paper reasons that the GWP should, itself, become more involved with the private sector, which could help raise awareness of businesses’ roles and responsibilities in the governance and management of water resources, and be a source of funding through some of the financing instruments under development for water infrastructure investment. They suggest that corporate water stewardship initiatives often lack the scale and scope to fully mitigate business risks at the watershed level, and therefore, joint approaches are likely to be more successful.

The position paper also provides several examples of multi-stakeholder initiatives on water resource planning and the introduction of various technologies, such as rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse. [Publication: Engaging the Private Sector in Water Security] [GWP Press Release]