Contextual Water Targets are the first step for any company looking to adopt a Science-Based Target for Water. Taking a contextual approach to setting water performance targets enables a company to become more responsive to local water challenges and to set up internal processes to manage locally specific water performance targets.

Seven companies made public commitments around water that reflected their leadership and their understanding that they can be a powerful and constructive force for people and planet. This report covers their individual goals and some of the progress made in the year following the launch of the AgWater Challenge.

Companies are increasingly setting and pursing ‘water balance targets’ as part of their water stewardship strategies. This paper explores the history, challenges and opportunities of water balance targets, and how important it is for such goals to be grounded in the realities of each unique watershed.

The Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) led a mutli-stakeholder process to develop the first internationally recognized frameworkd for implementing comprehensive water stewardship: the AWS International Water Stewardship Standard. 

This briefing paper provides and overview on how the private sector can—and already is—helping deliver on global goals, particularly the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #6 on ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Although metrics such as water use efficiency ratios are commonly employed within businesses to measurably demonstrate progress, assessing the benefits of water projects beyond a company’s four walls is much more difficult. To fill the gap, some companies are developing “replenish” methodologies to capture how quantitative or qualitative water benefits can be calculated for a given water-related community activity or conservation project.

California is in the midst of a multi-year drought—-the worst in 1200 years—and according to climate scientists, this is just the beginning. Hardest hit is Central Valley, a large, flat region that is home to some of the country’s most productive agricultural areas. Here, WWF is helping businesses use the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) to earn recognition for existing water improvements, identify gaps and risks, and connect with others who use shared freshwater resources.