It does not provide specific guidance on local situations, which require more in-depth, systematic analysis.

Through an easy to manage process, the tool allows companies to quickly and accurately:

How it works

The tool has two parts: the input sheet and the online map. The input sheet contains the company's site location and water use information. After entering the company's water use figures, the sheet automatically provides outputs, including GRI water indicators and downloadable metrics charts that demonstrate the company's data combined with both the country and watershed figures.

The online mapping feature enables companies to plot their sites with external water datasets and download those locations in a map. These datasets provide several key metrics including renewable water resource per capita, mean annual relative water stress index and access to improved sanitation. The tool is connected with Google Earth, which provides spatial viewing of a company's site locations in relation to detailed geographic information, including surface water.

Advisory Board

The WBCSD's Water Working Group stewarded development of the Global Water Tool. WBCSD Member and global engineering company CH2M HILL (www.ch2m.com) led the tool's development. An Advisory Board comprised of 22 WBCSD Member Companies in a wide range of industries provided oversight and pilot testing:

Air Products and Chemicals
Alcan
Alcoa
Anglo American
Borealis
ConocoPhillips
Degussa
The Dow Chemical Company
DuPont
GrupoNueva
Holcim
ITT Corporation
Kimberly Clark
Lafarge
PepsiCo
Petro-Canada
Rio Tinto
Sanyo
Shell
Suez
Syngenta
Unilever

The WBCSD's Water Project is directed by Co-Chairmen Steve Loranger, Chairman, President and CEO of ITT Corporation, and John Taylor, CEO of Borealis Group who supported the development of the tool and pilot testing at their respective organizations.

Data provided by:

Expertise provided by:

Company leaders say:

CH2M HILL
"Water risks to business and society are significant now and expected to increase due to the impacts of climate change. The WBCSD Global Water Tool is an example of the way business must innovate in the future to proactively identify and address risks to protect our shareholders, employees, communities and the environment."
Ralph Peterson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

ITT Corporation
"The Global Water Tool is valuable for companies around the globe that understand clean water resources are critical to business success and must be managed effectively. The tool is not an end to itself, but rather the beginning of a much deeper understanding of the water situation in local business communities. We are committed to using the tool at ITT to inform decision-making across our company."
Steven Loranger, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

Borealis
"The Global Water Tool provides a comprehensive and dynamic picture of our operations' water footprint and is the basis for the strategic management of water risks."
John Taylor, Chief Executive

Tool users say:

The Dow Chemical Company
"The WBCSD Global Water Tool has provided a unique and valuable perspective on the water use and relative corporate risks in our global operations. We have used the metrics and mapping results to review corporate risks and communicate with internal stakeholders. The user-friendly outputs in terms of Global Reporting Initiative metrics are especially useful and we plan to use the outputs of this tool in further external communication to stakeholders as well."

PepsiCo International
"The new WBCSD Global Water Tool is a significant step in addressing world water issues. It is the first tool of its kind available in the public domain, and will have marked impact in helping companies, governments, and other interested stakeholders proactively assess and manage their water resource risks.

The WBCSD Global Water Tool is intuitive to use, so the user is able to get up to speed almost immediately on the basic functionality. As the user's familiarity increases, so do the evident power and impact of the Tool.

The proactive assessment and management of water resource risk are so critically important, and yet there has never been a comprehensive Tool with which to conduct these assessments available in the public domain for all sectors to use. With this new Tool, the WBCSD continues to show their global leadership in the area of sustainable management of water resources."

Petro-Canada
"The Tool provides a company with a singular and holistic view of its operations relative to water scarcity. Petro-Canada intends to introduce the Tool to our business units and encourage them to include its use in project decision making. We are looking forward to the future development of the Tool to provide greater information and therefore increased value to our business."

Alcan
"Water for Alcan is a key component to business sustainability and a top priority in delivering on our EHS FIRST TM commitments. The WBCSD Global Water Tool is a powerful and very user-friendly application to assess our global and regional water footprint in order to visualize, communicate and assist in high-level decision making to deliver value for internal and external stakeholders."

DuPont
"DuPont supported the development of the WBCSD Global Water Tool as we saw it as an effective means of putting our science to work to develop sustainable, global solutions. The collaboration among companies from major industry sectors has been remarkable and has resulted in a tool of widespread applicability and value. In our pilot testing, we found that this tool aligns with our company's publicly stated water conservation goals by enabling us to focus our resources more effectively on operations in locations where water resources are, or will be, under stress. The Global Water Tool is already helping DuPont towards achieving our vision of creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. We're confident that others will find this tool to be just as valuable in helping them with their sustainability efforts."

Unilever
"This tool should really help the new swimmers in the stream of water business risk awareness to start to understand their own issues; it is a really practical follow-up to the Water Scenarios which should have raised the issue of Water for Business."

Shell
"Water is a strategic issue for Shell in our operations and communities around the world. Since we are active in over 130 countries and territories, we saw value in the development of a tool that could provide portfolio perspective for identifying and managing risk. We found the Global Water Tool easy-to-use and the presentation of the output tables of great value for communication on global water risk. We are also exploring how the tool can be linked to our annual sustainability report."

About the WBCSD

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) brings together some 200 international companies in a shared commitment to sustainable development through economic growth, ecological balance and social progress. Our members are drawn from more than 30 countries and 20 major industrial sectors. We also benefit from a global network of about 60 national and regional business councils and partner organizations.

Our mission is to provide business leadership as a catalyst for change toward sustainable development, and to support the business license to operate, innovate and grow in a world increasingly shaped by sustainable development issues.

Our objectives include: