Credible, verified private sector action on SDG6.

Alliance for Water Stewardship (

Partnership

)

#SDGAction49803

Description

The Alliance for Water Stewardship are custodians of a sustainability standard system that incentivises, guides and verifies credible private sector action on water that aligns with the priorities and engages civil society, the public sector and ecosystems. Termed ‘water stewardship’ AWS defines this process as “the use of water that is socially and culturally equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically beneficial, achieved through a stakeholder-inclusive process that includes both site- and catchment-based actions.” The AWS Standard System emerged from dialogues between public, private and civil society organisations. Their aim was to create a mechanism for businesses who are major users of water to systematically act on the diverse water-related challenges encompassed within the sub-targets in SDG 6. The result is a water-focused sustainability standard (“the AWS Standard”), widely recognised as best practice for businesses to manage their own water use and to engage with wider catchment dynamics, bolstered by a verification and certification system which ensures credibility of actions, outcomes and claims. The AWS Standard System is supported and activated through a multi-stakeholder membership-based collaboration. Members of AWS include transnational corporations and their supply chain partners, development agencies and banks, international NGOs, water experts and research bodies. Collectively the membership develops the processes embedded within the AWS Standard, using evidence from use to continually improve its effectiveness. Management and revisions of the AWS Standard System follow and adhere to the Assurance Code guidance and requirements laid down by ISEAL, the standard setting body for voluntary sustainability standards systems. The AWS Standard System was developed with the support of government agencies including the Swiss development agency (SDC), the German development bank (DEG) and the Netherlands development bank (FMO). Champions of the AWS approach include major water-focused civil society organisations including WWF, WaterAid, The Nature Conservancy, IWMI and the Global Water Partnership. Implementers of the AWS Standard include world-leading businesses and their global supply chain partners, operating in diverse sectors including agriculture and fresh produce, food and beverage production, microelectronics hardware and data storage, apparel and textiles production.

Expected Impact

The AWS Standard seeks five outcomes: improvements in water balance, water quality, water governance, protection of water-related ecosystems and WASH. These outcomes track against each of the sub-targets of SDG6. Implementers of the standard are guided towards a catchment contextual understanding of the severity of challenges relating to water availability, water quality, water resource management and governance, ecosystem health and access to water, sanitation and hygiene. Buy understanding the local context and by building meaningful relationships with the communities and water managers, regulators and policy makers within the catchment which sites are based they are then guided towards creating meaningful plans which comprise actions against each water-related theme/outcome. The standard requires implementers to validate these plans with local stakeholders and to consult with local stakeholders on the progress against plan objectives, adapting as necessary to achieve impact. Through independent third-party auditing the certification process provides assurance that these plans have been credibly implemented. This process provides validation that actions are meaningful, have been implemented successfully and so guards against ‘bluewash’. Certification also serves to set a marker within sectors that raises the bar on norms within a given sector. As leading companies within each sector adopt the AWS approach so does this create momentum within the sector for others to follow. Our ultimate intent is that credible, verifiable water stewardship becomes the normal way of doing business. In this way we can guide the private sector to make meaningful contributions to SDG 6 with claims of progress that can be trusted at a global level (by investors, policy makers, consumers) and at a catchment level (by communities, regulators and water managers). At the time of writing over 500 operational sites around the world have either certified against the AWS Standard or have registered to certify in the coming months. Over 10,000 individuals have downloaded the AWS Standard for use. Our goal is that by 2030 adoption of the AWS Standard is the norm in several business sectors, creating a global network of tens of thousands of sites making meaningful, verifiable contributions to the sub-targets within SDG 6.

Partners

AWS is a multi-stakeholder membership partnership comprised of, at the time of writing, 175 organisations. Members comprise transnational corporations and their supply chain partners, international NGOs and civil society organisations, development agencies and banks, water-expert consultancies and research agencies. The membership of AWS can be viewed at https://a4ws.org/membership/members/

SDGS & Targets

Goal 6

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

6.1

By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all

6.1.1

Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services

6.2

By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations

6.2.1

Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a hand-washing facility with soap and water

6.3

By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally

6.3.1

Proportion of domestic and industrial wastewater flows safely treated

6.3.2

Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality

6.4

By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity

6.4.1

Change in water-use efficiency over time

6.4.2

Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources

6.5

By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate

6.5.1

Degree of integrated water resources management

6.5.2

Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation

6.6

By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes

6.6.1

Change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time

6.a

By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies

6.a.1

Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan

6.b

Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management

6.b.1

Proportion of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management

Goal 12

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

12.1

Implement the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, all countries taking action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries

12.1.1

Number of countries developing, adopting or implementing policy instruments aimed at supporting the shift to sustainable consumption and production

12.2

By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources

12.2.1

Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP

12.2.2

Domestic material consumption, domestic material consumption per capita, and domestic material consumption per GDP

12.3

By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses

12.3.1

(a) Food loss index and (b) food waste index

12.4

By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment

12.4.1

Number of parties to international multilateral environmental agreements on hazardous waste, and other chemicals that meet their commitments and obligations in transmitting information as required by each relevant agreement

12.4.2

(a) Hazardous waste generated per capita; and (b) proportion of hazardous waste treated, by type of treatment

12.5

By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse

12.5.1

National recycling rate, tons of material recycled

12.6

Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle

12.6.1

Number of companies publishing sustainability reports

12.7

Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities

12.7.1

Number of countries implementing sustainable public procurement policies and action plans

12.8

By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature

12.8.1

Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment

12.a

Support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production

12.a.1

Installed renewable energy-generating capacity in developing and developed countries (in watts per capita)

12.b

Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products

12.b.1

Implementation of standard accounting tools to monitor the economic and environmental aspects of tourism sustainability

12.c

Rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by removing market distortions, in accordance with national circumstances, including by restructuring taxation and phasing out those harmful subsidies, where they exist, to reflect their environmental impacts, taking fully into account the specific needs and conditions of developing countries and minimizing the possible adverse impacts on their development in a manner that protects the poor and the affected communities