WBCSD launches first industry specific water tools

The WBCSD Global Water Tool (www.wbcsd.org) is a free and easy to use tool for companies and organizations to map their water use and assess risks relative to their global operations and supply chains.

New developments include the tool customizations to the specific needs of two major industrial sectors:

1.      The Global Water Tool for Oil and Gas, developed by IPIECA, the WBCSD and CH2M HILL, is designed to assess companies’ water risks across their portfolio of sites considering each part of the oil and gas value chain. It enables companies to identify the number of refinery sites in water-scarce areas, provides future projections, and establishes the percentage production volume in water scarce areas and how this will increase in the future. It also explores the number of sites in countries that lack access to water and sanitation. 

2.      A second addition to the WBCSD’s suite of Water Tools is the Global Water Tool for Power Utilities. Development was led by CH2M HILL and EDF, and shaped and piloted by a group of member companies with power production operations worldwide. It allows data input and metrics output to be customized to the four main types of power production, and considers cooling water separately from other process water. Sector-relevant intensity metrics can be created, and mapping icons for major power production processes can be employed.

The WBCSD has also included a Biodiversity Bonus feature on the upgraded Global Water Tool which was also launched last week in Stockholm. It enables businesses to identify how many of their sites, or potential sites, are in biodiversity hotspots. The data can be viewed via charts, Excel spreadsheets or maps. The Biodiversity Bonus feature was developed with expertise from Conservation International.

To access the tools, go to: www.wbcsd.org

Comments or questions? GlobalWaterTool@wbcsd.org

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Anne-Leonore Boffi

Water Project

World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

4, chemin de Conches  l  1231 Conches – Geneva  l  Switzerland

T: +41 (0)22 839 31 93  l  F: +41 (0)22 839 31 31

E: boffi@wbcsd.org l  W: www.wbcsd.org