Net Positive Water Impact (NPWI)

Net positive related to water impact signifies that companies strive to do more than just balancing their water impact, by giving back more than they consume in terms of availability, quality and accessibility. Companies do this with the intention of building long-term water resilience at the site and basin levels. NPWI aligns with the ‘mitigation hierarchy’ (Arlidge et al., 2018) (avoid, minimize, restore, offset) because it goes beyond just operational efficiencies and replenishment (volumetric benefits) by also addressing quality and accessibility as added dimensions of water stress.

 

For more information, see section "Differentiating Net Positive Water Impact from other water positive terms" in the Net Positive Water Impact: An Introduction.

There are three distinct “Pillars” that define the scale at which NPWI is being addressed. Each Pillar addresses the three dimensions of water stress across different scales.  

 

• Pillar 1: Undertaken at the site level. The property in which all operations occur. Examples can be a farm, a factory, a complex or campus with multiple buildings.

     

• Pillar 2: Undertaken at the site to sub-basin level. Includes company site premises and/or areas (e.g., wetlands, rivers) within the vicinity of the site, at the sub-basin level. It should span most employee households, to address accessibility.

     

• Pillar 3: Undertaken at the sub-basin/basin level. A collectively defined local basin level, at which all three dimensions can be meaningfully addressed in collective action.

    

For more information, see section “What is Net Positive Water Impact” in the Net Positive Water Impact: An Introduction.

NPWI focuses on three key dimensions of water stress:

 

• Water Availability: Aims to reduce the volume of water withdrawn from the basin over time, through minimized withdrawals at the site and replenishing volumes to balance the site’s water footprint, with long-term basin outcomes.

 

• Water Quality: Focuses on reducing and eventually eliminating the pollutant load at the site, downstream and in the basin, measured by reductions in mass or volume of pollutants per year.

 

• Water Accessibility: Seeks to improve access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services for employees and the population within the basin, ensuring these services are climate-resilient and safely managed.

 

For more information, see section “What is Net Positive Water Impact” in the Net Positive Water Impact: An Introduction.

The primary aim of NPWI is to drive significant and long-term improvements in the health and resilience of water basins. NPWI focuses on addressing the fundamental issues affecting water availability, quality and accessibility. By targeting these dimensions of water stress, NPWI aims to create sustainable solutions that enhance the overall health of water systems and ensure their resilience against future challenges.

  

NPWI requires companies to go beyond merely balancing their operational water use. It calls for a proactive approach in which businesses actively contribute to the restoration and improvement of the basins where they operate. This involves engaging with local stakeholders, investing in strategic initiatives and implementing practices that directly address the specific water challenges faced by each basin.

  

NPWI seeks to ensure that the positive contributions made by companies exceed their water-related impacts, particularly in water-stressed regions. Through this ambitious approach, NPWI not only supports the sustainability of water resources but also aligns with broader environmental and social goals, contributing to the well-being of communities and ecosystems.

  

For more information, see section “What is Net Positive Water Impact” in the Net Positive Water Impact: An Introduction.

NPWI supports companies by offering a structured approach to integrate water stewardship into their business goals and priorities. NPWI is designed to build long-term resilience in water-stressed basins by addressing water insecurity across all dimensions—availability, quality, and accessibility—through both on-site and collaborative efforts. For companies with existing water-related objectives, NPWI can align and enhance these goals, ensuring a comprehensive approach to water stewardship. For others, NPWI can serve as a foundational framework to develop new strategies and targets.

 

By incorporating NPWI into their business strategies, companies can take a more strategic and integrated approach to managing their water impact. This integration requires involvement at the enterprise level, ensuring that top decision-makers understand and commit to the necessary actions for effective implementation. NPWI encourages companies to assess their current water practices, identify gaps and develop or refine policies to meet NPWI's ambitious targets.

 

NPWI facilitates the alignment of corporate water stewardship with broader business objectives, promoting a unified approach across different teams and departments. By embedding NPWI principles into their operational strategies and decision-making processes, companies can demonstrate leadership in sustainable water management, enhance their reputation and drive significant improvements in water resilience and impact.

 

For more information, see section “Integrate NPWI into company business goals and priorities” in the Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance.

The NPWI guidance is split into several documents, making it easier to pair the level of detail with the respective user.

• The Executive Summary provides a high-level summary for decision-makers and executives to understand the NPWI ambition and implementation steps.
• Introducing Net Positive Water Impact offers a comprehensive introduction to the objectives, value and structure of NPWI, providing the entry point to the NPWI guidance and suitable reading for corporate leadership and technical staff.
• Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance provides an in-depth description of the required NPWI steps across three Pillars and three dimensions of water stress. It forms the core reading to guide a company through NPWI implementation at the site and basin scales in water-stressed basins.
• Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Step-in-Practice provides a practical example for operationalizing NPWI in the textile industry and is intended as an add-on to the technical guidance document.

Upcoming resources include:

• The Internal Tracking Framework (ITF) includes all indicators and other metrics to enable standardized data collection and progress reporting towards validated milestone achievements and site NPWI claims.
• A supplementary document discusses How Net Positive Water Impact Relates to the Water Resilience Coalition. This document is relevant to all WRC signatories, and anyone interested in better understanding this relationship.

The NPWI call to action urges companies operating in water-stressed basins to integrate and implement the NPWI framework comprehensively across their operations. This involves several key steps: firstly, setting a clear NPWI ambition at the enterprise level to guide overall water stewardship strategies. Secondly, prioritizing the implementation of NPWI across all high-priority sites to address the most critical water stress issues effectively.

 

Further, companies are encouraged to extend NPWI implementation to all their water-stressed sites, ensuring that every location contributes to the overarching water resilience goals. Additionally, the call to action emphasizes the importance of informing other companies, particularly those within the same basin and supply chains, about NPWI. Lastly, companies are encouraged to support other organizations in their NPWI journey, fostering a collaborative approach to enhance water stewardship across the industry.

 

In addition to these steps, the NPWI framework encourages ongoing engagement with evolving guidance materials and practices. Companies should stay informed about updates to NPWI guidance, such as the addition of new dimensions of water stress or technical guidelines, to ensure their practices remain cutting-edge and aligned with best practices. By actively participating in the NPWI community and promoting continual learning and adaptation, companies can help drive a broader, more impactful shift towards sustainable water management globally.

 

For more information, see section “Next steps and call to action” in the Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance.

The NPWI guidance is a dynamic and evolving framework that will continue to be updated based on lessons learned, emerging methodologies, and stakeholder feedback. Future developments include the potential addition of biodiversity as a fourth dimension of water stress, technical guidelines for implementing NPWI across supply and value chains, and alignment with other water stewardship frameworks such as SBTN. The WRC and its members are encouraged to participate in the ongoing refinement of NPWI materials, ensuring that the guidance remains relevant and effective in addressing global water challenges. As NPWI evolves, it will continue to align with broader corporate water stewardship approaches to support comprehensive and integrated water resilience strategies. The CEO Water Mandate encourages those engaging with NPWI to help shape the future iterations of this work and ask for candid feedback to improve the guidance.

  

For more information, see section “Next steps and call to action” in the Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance.

 

NPWI itself is not a formal commitment but rather a strategic ambition that companies can choose to adopt. Companies have the option to use NPWI for internal strategic purposes, treating it as a guiding principle or "North Star" for their water stewardship goals. Alternatively, they can choose to make their NPWI commitment highly visible and formalize it publicly, thereby demonstrating a strong dedication to water sustainability and potentially enhancing their brand value and credibility.

 

An NPWI ambition is voluntary and not legally binding. Companies have the flexibility to adjust or even opt out of their NPWI goals if needed. However, it is important to note that NPWI is designed to align with long-term water stewardship and sustainability objectives, and companies are encouraged to stay the course to achieve meaningful impact in water-stressed basins. While there is no formal requirement to maintain the NPWI ambition, opting out may affect the company's reputation and perceived commitment to water resilience and sustainability.

 

For more information, see the Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance.

Companies have a range of options for communicating their NPWI ambitions and progress. Internal communication is strongly encouraged and involves updating department heads, organization leaders or boards, or through internal channels like newsletters. This helps keep internal stakeholders informed and engaged with the company’s water stewardship efforts. Transparent internal communication is key to demonstrating progress and maintaining accountability within the organization.

 

Public commitment and reporting on NPWI progress are voluntary. Companies can choose whether to make their NPWI ambitions and milestones public. If a company opts for public disclosure, it is highly encouraged to have any statements of NPWI achievement validated by an independent third party. This ensures that the company’s claims are credible and aligns with broader efforts to promote transparency in corporate water stewardship.

 

While it is not required for companies to publicly commit to or report on NPWI outcomes, such actions can be beneficial. Public reporting can enhance the company’s reputation, demonstrate leadership, and encourage collaboration with other stakeholders. Companies that choose to communicate their NPWI progress publicly should ensure that their data is accurate and validated to support credible reporting and avoid misleading stakeholders.

 

For more information, see section “Report and communicate outputs and outcomes” in the Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance.

The Pacific Institute and the CEO Water Mandate are dedicated to supporting companies throughout their NPWI journey by offering a proposed tiered support approach. This support is designed to guide companies through the various steps involved in achieving NPWI, ensuring a comprehensive and effective implementation process.

 

	Tier 1:	Tier 2:	Tier 3	Tier 4
Who is this for	NPWI for all	NPWI for WRC and paying CEO WM endorsers	NPWI paid support package (up to three sites)	Consultants and Global Networks
Nature of engagement	Access to prepared resources – not individualized	Small group engagement	Individualized support	NPWI Training
Communication opportunities	Website, emails, limited number of calls	Emails, calls, online workshops	Online support In-house workshop Monthly-bi-monthly check-ins	Online training workshops
Services offered	Available online: - FAQ section - Variety of videos with information, guidance - e.g., 10-minute videos for each NPWI step - NPWI milestones and claims process - Basin impact: data aggregation for 100 priority basins. - Lesson sharing among companies - video	Online tips and tricks sessions one every quarter: - Best practices stakeholder engagement and collective action - How to set up targets and objectives - How to quantify 3 dimensions (SIP) - How to design a M&E plan - Validations and claims - Scaling NPWI - Facilitated co-learning opportunities among corporates - Engagement platform opportunities for milestone achievers	- Embedding NPWI across organization through webinar (to be recorded and shared). Can result in new/revised water strategy. - Support in data collection - Support & review in target setting, activity selection, etc. - Review of setting up ITF processes. - Support with stakeholder mapping, first contact and facilitation. - Support in communicating progress and achievements.	Train the trainer program - online
Support timeline	Ongoing	Ongoing - Four online quarterly events per annum, regular Task Force meetings plus extra engagement events annually (UNGA, SWWW etc.)	Up to 1 year	Feb 2025 – annual repeat

  

For more information, read the Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance.

Validation in the NPWI journey is recommended once a company wants to make a formal NPWI claim of a milestone achievement (e.g., achieving NPWI for one dimension across a pillar) or a full claim, typically after several years of implementation. The validation process is highly recommended to ensure that the claims made by companies are accurate, robust and transparent.

 

For more information, see section “Report and communicate outputs and outcomes” in the Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance.

Companies are the initiators of the validation process and need to reach out to a third party for verification.

  

• Third-Party Validators: An approved third-party organization conducts formal validation. These third-party organizations will need access to the NPWI-related data to validate this. All third parties should be trained and recognized by the CEO Water Mandate - to ensure a consistent and rigorous validation process. Companies can choose from a list of pre-approved organizations, or they can propose other organizations, which must undergo training to be certified for NPWI validation.

 

• CEO Water Mandate: Upon company request support is offered to Mandate-endorsing companies and WRC members who wish to have their data reviewed prior to or after the validation process. CEO Water Mandate resources will broadly support all organizations across different stages of the NPWI journey through review and advice. The CEO Water Mandate is responsible for training third-party validators – offering scheduled training sessions at regular intervals.

 

For more information, see section “Report and communicate outputs and outcomes” in the Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance.

To make an NPWI claim, a company is recommended to follow these steps:

  

 

For more information, see section “Report and communicate outputs and outcomes” in the Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance.

It is recommended that companies validate their NPWI claims at least every two years to maintain their NPWI status. This ongoing validation is necessary because achieving NPWI is an evolving process that requires continuous improvements at both site and basin levels. The biennial validation helps maintain transparency, accountability and the integrity of the NPWI framework over time.

 

For more information, see section “Report and communicate outputs and outcomes” in the Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance.

It is recommended that progress for NPWI is reported and monitored through the following steps:

  

1. Regular progress reporting against minimum NPWI requirements and internal progress targets: Companies can use the Internal Tracking Framework (ITF) to systematically track their progress towards NPWI over time. This framework facilitates the standardized, consistent collection and reporting of data related to water stewardship efforts and milestones and requires biannual or annual updating.

  

2. ITF and validation: Reporting through the ITF makes NPWI milestones and claims standardized and efficient and companies are encouraged to use the ITF for a streamlined validation process.

  

Data Security and Privacy: The ITF is part of the 100 Basins app, which adheres to stringent security measures.

  

For more information, see section “Analyze and evaluate outputs and outcomes with recommended indicators” in the Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance.

NPWI is designed to fit seamlessly within the broader landscape of water stewardship frameworks and tools, enhancing their collective impact. Here’s how NPWI complements and aligns with various approaches:  

 

• SDG 6.1 to 6.6 Targets: NPWI directly supports targets related to clean water access, sanitation, water quality, water management and ecosystem restoration, reinforcing global efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6. By addressing these specific targets, NPWI helps organizations contribute to the comprehensive goals of SDG 6.   

 

• Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard: While the AWS Standard provides a robust framework for water stewardship at the site level, NPWI expands this focus to include both site and basin levels. This broader scope allows NPWI to address more complex water challenges and provides a more integrated approach to water management.  

• Benefit Accounting Frameworks: NPWI complements existing and emerging benefit accounting frameworks by offering a structured methodology for evaluating and reporting water impacts. It helps organizations track progress and quantify benefits related to water stewardship, thereby integrating with broader environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting.   

 

• Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) Freshwater Method: NPWI aligns with the SBTN Freshwater Method by incorporating science-based targets and site-specific water management strategies. It provides a practical approach for implementing freshwater targets at both local and basin levels, enhancing the effectiveness of SBTN’s science-based recommendations.   

 

• Global Tools: NPWI integrates with global tools such as the Water Risk Filter and Aqueduct, which provide valuable insights into water risks and opportunities. By aligning with these tools, NPWI helps organizations better understand and manage water-related risks on a global scale, improving their overall water stewardship strategies.   

 

Overall, NPWI acts as a unifying framework that not only aligns with but also enhances the functionality of various water stewardship tools and approaches. Its comprehensive approach to addressing water stress across multiple dimensions makes it a valuable addition to the existing ecosystem of water management practices.   

 

For more information, see sections "Net Positive Water Impact and the Sustainable Development Goals” and “Alignment between NPWI and other water stewardship tools, approaches and frameworks” in the Net Positive Water Impact: An Introduction

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Partnerships are crucial in NPWI investments, especially at the basin scale and some site-level projects. Establishing partnerships with organizations that have relevant experience, and proven capacity ensures that activities are implemented effectively and provides access to technical expertise and local networks. To formalize these collaborations, a written agreement could be established, outlining credit allocation, progress reporting methods and frequencies, and public communication strategies regarding project outputs and outcomes.

  

In collective action initiatives, sharing credit for collaborative investments is essential. According to the VWBA Guide 2.0, companies must apply credible and transparent approaches for attributing volumetric water benefits (VWBs). Key considerations for attribution include:

   

• Consensus Among Parties: All parties involved, including the company making the claim, other project sponsors, and project implementers, should agree on the attribution approach based on a shared understanding of the costs, funding sources, and resulting VWBs.

 

• Proportional Attribution: VWBs should be attributed in proportion to each company's contribution to the project. This can be based on monetary contributions, in-kind support, or leading roles in the project.   

 

• Cost-Share Approach: When the total project cost and expected outputs are clear, VWBs can be attributed using a cost-share approach, where each sponsor's share of VWBs reflects their proportional financial contribution.  

 

In cases where credible attribution methods are challenging to determine, engaging subject-matter experts and consulting external stakeholders can help ensure that the approach minimizes the risk of overclaiming and supports transparent, fair and accountable claims. This is crucial to prevent greenwashing, double counting or over-claiming outcomes and to maintain the integrity of NPWI initiatives.

  

For more information, see section “Establish and secure inputs needed for financing and partnerships” in the Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance.

As part of the WRC’s overarching commitments, NPWI is designed to ensure that a company’s contributions towards healthier water basins exceed its negative impacts, particularly in water-stressed regions. It is implemented at the site and basin levels and requires companies to engage in collective action with stakeholders to address basin-specific challenges. NPWI supports the WRC’s mission by providing a structured, measurable approach to achieving water resilience, thereby aligning corporate water stewardship efforts with global sustainability goals like the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

WRC members are asked to understand NPWI and its implications for building long-term water resilience across their sites in water-stressed basins. To support this understanding, the CEO Water Mandate provides a range of resources, including an executive summary, technical guidance, and practical examples of NPWI implementation to WRC members. Members are encouraged to participate in collective action initiatives, allocate adequate resources for long-term NPWI efforts, and work actively towards starting NPWI implementation by 2030, with a full commitment to NPWI by 2050. The WRC also promotes transparency and accountability in NPWI reporting, strongly suggesting that companies track progress against defined milestones and contribute positively to water-stressed basins in line with the coalition’s goals.

NPWI and the WRC leverage the influence of their member companies, particularly large multinationals, to advocate for supportive policies and regulatory frameworks that facilitate water resilience and NPWI goals. By positioning themselves as leaders in water stewardship, WRC members can lend credibility to NPWI efforts, encouraging other businesses and stakeholders to adopt similar practices. The WRC also engages in advocacy to raise awareness of water issues and to drive policy changes that support sustainable water management, thereby creating a more favorable environment for achieving NPWI and enhancing water resilience at a broader scale.