Overview

Objectives for NPWI

NPWI is a leadership ambition set at the enterprise level and is available to any company, across any sector, industry or geography. It aims to ensure that the water user’s contributions towards a healthy basin exceed their impacts, building long-term resilience in water-stressed basins. It requires long-term commitment and input towards quantifiable outcomes. NPWI is structured into three pillars that help define the scale of activities for each site. Each pillar addresses three dimensions of water stress, namely availability, quality and accessibility. NPWI aligns with other approaches and supports SDG 6.

Contributions to NPWI development

NPWI is a concept that has taken several years to evolve. Ross Strategic and Pegasys supported the development of the original conceptual framework. Bluerisk continued with initial drafting, building on practitioner experience and published literature, working in close consultation with the CEO Water Mandate, Pacific Institute and the NPWI Task Force of member organizations from the Water Resilience Coalition. The Task Force included 3M, Danone, Heineken, Holcim, The Nature Conservancy and Kurita. The working draft guidance documents were reviewed and piloted by seven CEO Water Mandate-endorsing companies, including 3M, Danone, Diageo, GSK, Holcim, Kurita and PepsiCo. Further reviewers include Ceres, Quantis and WaterAid, ERM, SWCA and Orbia.

NPWI guidance continues to evolve with the active input and guidance from its Task Force.  We encourage active engagement in making improvements in the working documents.

Funding support

NPWI Guidance

NPWI Guidance

The following working documents provide guidance for the NPWI journey.

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary provides a high-level summary for decision-makers and executives to understand the NPWI ambition and implementation steps.

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Net Positive Water Impact: An Introduction

Net Positive Water Impact: An Introduction 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.

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Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance

Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Technical Guidance is an in-depth description of the required steps across the three pillars of NPWI and three dimensions of water stress.

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Implementing Net Positive Water Impact: Step-in-Practice

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.

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Disclaimer: The following guideline documents and tools are forthcoming.

The Internal Tracking Framework (ITF)

The Internal Tracking Framework (ITF) includes all indicators and other metrics to enable standardized data collection and progress reporting towards milestone achievements and site NPWI claims. It is currently being developed with WRC signatories.

How Net Positive Water Impact relates to the Water Resilience Coalition

A supplementary document on How Net Positive Water Impact relates to the Water Resilience Coalition is currently being developed with WRC signatories. It is relevant to anyone interested in better understanding this relationship.

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Webinars

UNGC Academy Session: Delivering on Net-Positive Water Impact for Growth and Resilience

The UN Global Compact CEO Mandate and its Water Resilience Coalition call on businesses to join the NPWI (Net Positive Water Impact) journey to build resiliency for their own operations and the communities and ecosystems in which they operate. Deep dive into the business case and the pressing need for ambitious action on water to support resilience against climate impacts in this webinar hosted by the UN Global Compact Academy. Hear from companies who have taken action to achieve Net Positive Water Impact and learn steps your business can take on the road to NPWI.

Other Resources

SDG Ambition Paper

The United Nations Global Compact SDG Ambition catalyzes innovative business strategies that significantly accelerate companies’ positive impact on the SDGs. Net Positive Water Impact is a cornerstone concept for accelerating progress on SDG6 – Water. Indeed, the dimensions of water stress addressed by NPWI (availability, quality and access) are anchored in UN Sustainable Development Goal 6: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”

Companies must raise their business ambition on water. Beginning with benchmarking performance and assessing the true business value of water, companies can evaluate their water impact and establish a roadmap for action. Achieving these ambitions requires NPWI business integration. The SDG 6 Ambition Paper breaks down each step of the process and maps out the pathways, goals, and processes of Key Design Decisions in the implementation of NPWI.

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Infographic: Understanding the NPWI Journey

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Blog: A Shared Ambition: The Net Positive Water Impact Journey

By Jason Morrison and André Ramalho

As climate change continues to exacerbate water risks, many companies have acknowledged the risks and opportunities that arise from the water-climate nexus. Some businesses are seeking a clear course of action to face these challenges. Others are going above and beyond – asking themselves how they can meaningfully contribute to improving water security more broadly, beyond the confines of their own companies.

A growing number of companies are now turning to one framework in particular to achieve that broader water ambition. . .

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