Topic: water

ADVISORY: Press Call on China’s New Leadership: Confronting Energy and Environmental Challenges

Michael Oko — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:32:38 -0500

As China continues its leadership transition next week at the National People’s Congress, many are wondering how the country will confront its pressing environmental, climate, and energy challenges. On Friday, March 1 at 9 a.m. EST, WRI’s ChinaFAQs network will bring together leading experts for a press teleconference to discuss these issues.

China’s new leaders have declared that making “ecological progress” will be a priority. However, in recent weeks, environmental challenges—including pollution, air quality, water scarcity, and greenhouse gas emissions—have all been in the headlines.

Experts will discuss what to watch for in China’s energy mix and new policies, including a potential carbon tax. They will also discuss implications of the government’s restructuring of energy and environmental authorities, and opportunities for U.S.-China collaboration on clean energy.

The call is being hosted by ChinaFAQs, a network of independent, U.S.-China experts assembled to provide insights and analysis around climate and energy issues in China.

LISTEN TO THE RECORDING:

WHAT:
Press teleconference on China’s leadership transition and energy and sustainability issues

WHO:
Melanie Hart, Policy Analyst, Center for American Progress
Ailun Yang, Senior Associate, World Resources Institute
Julio Friedmann, Chief Energy Technologist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Technical Program Manager for the US-China Clean Energy Research Center for Advanced Coal Technology

WHEN:
Friday, March 1, 2013

TIME:
9:00 a.m. EST

CALL-IN:
US (Toll-Free): 866-803-2143
US/Int’l (Toll): +1 (210) 795-1098
CHINA: + 86-400-810-4773

ACCESS CODE: “WRI”

RSVP to lzelin@wri.org

Aqueduct Metadata Document: Yellow River Basin Study

Sarah Parsons — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:43:16 -0500

Summary

Prior to the creation of the global Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, indicators were developed and tested in a number of river basins worldwide. The results of the Yellow River Basin Study helped inform and shape the global Aqueduct Water Risk Framework. The Yellow River Basin study contains 14 indicators of water quantity, water variability, water quality, public awareness of water issues, access to water, and ecosystem vulnerability.

Aqueduct Metadata Document: Yangtze River Basin Study

Sarah Parsons — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:33:33 -0500

Summary

Prior to the creation of the global Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, indicators were developed and tested in a number of river basins worldwide. The results of the Yangtze River Basin Study helped inform and shape the global Aqueduct Water Risk Framework. The Yangtze River Basin study contains 14 indicators of water quantity, water variability, water quality, public awareness of water issues, access to water, and ecosystem vulnerability.

Aqueduct Metadata Document: Orange-Senqu River Basin Study

Sarah Parsons — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:27:06 -0500

Summary

Prior to the creation of the global Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, indicators were developed and tested in a number of river basins worldwide. The results of the Orange-Senqu River Basin Study helped inform and shape the global Aqueduct Water Risk Framework. The Orange-Senqu River Basin study contains 14 indicators of water quantity, water variability, water quality, public awareness of water issues, access to water, and ecosystem vulnerability.

Aqueduct Metadata Document: Colorado River Basin Study

Sarah Parsons — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:16:28 -0500

Summary

Prior to the creation of the global Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, indicators were developed and tested in a number of river basins worldwide. The results of the Colorado River Basin Study helped inform and shape the global Aqueduct Water Risk Framework. The Colorado River Basin study contains 12 indicators of water quantity, water variability, water quality, public awareness of water issues, access to water, and ecosystem vulnerability.

Case Study: Aqueduct Informs Owens Corning Corporate Water Strategy

Sarah Parsons — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 10:27:57 -0500

Executive Summary

The World Resources Institute (WRI) Markets and Enterprise Program conducted a global water stress assessment with Owens Corning, a leading producer of glass-fiber reinforcements and residential and commercial building materials. This working paper aims to help Owens Corning and other companies deepen their understanding of external water supply-related threats and inform on how to shape improvements to their corporate water strategy. WRI plotted Owens Corning facilities worldwide on global maps of current and projected water stress using the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas. WRI concluded that Owens Corning facilities are evenly distributed across areas of high, medium and low stress. The Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas provided new metrics and an improved methodology for Owens Corning to determine water supply-driven risks to its operations. The results also allowed Owens Corning to rank its facilities worldwide based on their exposure to current and projected stress, prioritize areas for additional internal and external investment, and enhance the company’s overall corporate water strategy.

RELEASE: New Mapping Tool Provides Unprecedented Ability to Assess Water Risk

Lauren Zelin — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:08:10 -0500

Aqueduct provides companies with comprehensive, high-resolution picture of water risks worldwide.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) today launched a new online tool that maps water risk worldwide based on the most current, highest resolution data available. Companies, investors, and governments can use the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas to see how water stress will affect operations locally and globally, and help prioritize investments that will increase water security.

The online tool was developed by WRI, working with founding members of the Aqueduct Alliance, GE and Goldman Sachs, as well as Skoll Global Threats Fund, Shell, Bloomberg, Talisman Energy, Dow, United Technologies (UTC), DuPont, John Deere, Veolia Water, and the Dutch and Swedish governments.

The Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas is a customizable global map, based on 12 indicators of physical, regulatory, and reputational risk. In a user-friendly way, companies can now evaluate how water stress, flood occurrence, access to water, drought, and other issues may affect operations. Additionally, the global map can be tailored specifically for nine water-intense industry sectors - from oil and gas, to agriculture, to chemicals.

“Recent history is littered with companies that failed to anticipate emerging threats. Water scarcity is one such threat. Thankfully, forward-thinking business leaders are starting to get it. They understand that water risk is one of the top issues that they face,” said Andrew Steer, President, World Resources Institute. “This new platform will provide companies with comprehensive, high-resolution tools to measure water risk. It gives them an unprecedented ability to understand and better manage these risks.”

Companies have already been using earlier versions of the Aqueduct tool to understand how their operations and supply chains may be exposed to water risk. For example:

McDonalds has asked 353 of its global suppliers’ facilities to use Aqueduct to assess their local water risk;
Procter & Gamble, Owens-Corning, and AU Optronics have used Aqueduct to understand how local water supply, quality, and other risk factors may affect their global facilities, and to prioritize water efficiency and other investments;
Bank of America Merrill Lynch used Aqueduct to inform investors about water risks and opportunities in a recently released research report; and
Companies used Aqueduct to disclose and report on external water risk in the Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) 2012 Global Water Report.

“Aqueduct’s global water risk map provides an innovative tool and important step forward in understanding critical water issues,” said Kyung-Ah Park, Head of the Environmental Markets Group at Goldman Sachs. “Assessing risk is challenging, and even more so with complex issues like water. Aqueduct provides a much more complete picture of the water issues affecting business globally than we’ve had before.”

Through the Atlas, users can plot the locations that matter most to them – from facilities, to suppliers, to potential new markets or proposed power plants – and compare those locations’ potential exposure to water stress and risk. They can also review maps of individual indicators, such as seasonal variability, which may be highly important to their operations.

“GE knows first-hand that water scarcity is a major challenge in many parts of the world,” said Heiner Markhoff, President and CEO of GE Water. “We’re very pleased that Aqueduct’s new global water risk maps will enhance understanding of these risks in ways that enable society to address them more effectively.”

The release of the global Water Risk Atlas is the culmination of a three-year effort by WRI to create a peer-reviewed and robust methodology for mapping complex water security around the world.

“Aqueduct’s global water risk mapping information is a valuable tool for understanding and addressing the pressing global threat of water security,” said Sylvia Lee, Water Manager, Skoll Global Threats Fund. “We understand that water is not just an environmental issue, but a real and substantial risk to communities, economies, and businesses. The new global water risk maps make it easier than ever to research and understand where in the world these risks are greatest, and where action is most needed.”

On Thursday January 31, WRI is hosting a public webinar to showcase the new Aqueduct water risk mapping tool – see information below.

On February 8, water experts from leading companies will participate in the “Water: Emerging Risks and Opportunities Summit” co-hosted by GE Power & Water, Goldman Sachs, and WRI at Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York City. For more information, contact Kevin Smith from Goldman Sachs at kevin.m.smith@gs.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Aqueduct is holding a webinar at 11:00AM ET on Thursday January 31 to introduce the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas. To register, visit http://www.wri.org/event/2013/01/webinar-wris-aqueduct-global-water-risk-mapping-tool.

Aqueduct Water Risk Framework

Sarah Parsons — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:02:28 -0500

This working paper describes the Aqueduct Water Risk Framework, the indicators it includes, and the methodology used to combine them into aggregated, comprehensive risk scores. The Aqueduct Water Risk Framework includes indicators of water quantity, water variability, water quality, public awareness of water issues, access to water, and ecosystem vulnerability.

Aqueduct Global Maps 2.0

Sarah Parsons — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 16:11:20 -0500

Summary

This working paper provides data sources, methodology, and maps for Aqueduct’s Water Risk Atlas of 12 global indicators grouped into three categories of risk and overall risk. Aqueduct’s Water Risk Atlas of global maps includes indicators of water quantity, water variability, water quality, public awareness of water issues, access to water, and ecosystem vulnerability.

Influence of Coastal Economic Valuations in the Caribbean: Enabling Conditions and Lessons Learned

Sarah Parsons — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:55:24 -0500

Executive Summary

Across the Caribbean, national economies are heavily dependent on coastal ecosystem services. Coral reefs, mangroves, and other coastal ecosystems provide fish habitat, attract tourists, and protect shorelines from storm damage. However, coastal habitats continue to degrade due to local and global pressures. For example, more than 75 percent of the Caribbean’s coral reefs are currently threatened by human activities. These threats to coastal ecosystems stem from both a lack of awareness of the benefits these ecosystems provide and the costs of insufficient protection, and a lack of political will to protect and sustainably manage these ecosystems. Many of the activities that damage coastal ecosystems arise from shortsighted and poorly informed decisions that fail to take long-term ecosystem values and the full range of benefits from coastal ecosystem services into account.

Economic valuation can contribute to better informed and more holistic decision making about resource use and identify opportunities for effective conservation. Over the past 30 years, the economic valuation literature on the Caribbean’s coastal and ocean resources has increased substantially. More than 200 coastal economic valuation studies of the monetary value of marine ecosystem goods and services in the Caribbean currently exist. However, despite this wealth of valuation studies and estimates, it is not clear whether these efforts have had a meaningful impact on policy or decision making concerning the management and use of these valuable natural resources; to date, there has been no assessment to address this critical question. It is also not immediately clear why some valuations have been more influential than others.

To get a more complete picture of the influence of past coastal valuations in the Caribbean, and to identify the key “enabling conditions” for valuations to influence policy, management, or investment decisions, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Marine Ecosystem Services Partnership (MESP) conducted semi-structured interviews with more than thirty marine conservation and valuation experts. Several of these interviews took place in the five countries where WRI had conducted coastal valuations. WRI also reviewed past valuation studies in the Caribbean that informants identified as influential. The findings of this review are based on expert opinion and documented cases of influence. Given the large number of total valuations and the difficulty of tracking influence, this review is not exhaustive. This paper identifies a number of variables that likely influence policy, management, and investment outcomes; however, it does not identify the extent to which each variable contributes to influence. We encourage future research on this topic.

Overall, we found that although valuation studies have helped raise awareness about the economic importance of coastal ecosystems in the Caribbean, few have actually had a positive influence on conservation and management- oriented policy, legislation, or investment in the region. We identified only 13 valuation studies that have influenced policy. For example, valuation helped to convince the government of St. Maarten to establish the country’s first national marine park, and the government of Belize to legally ban bottom trawling. Still, these success stories highlight the potential for economic valuation to have influence. We were able to draw out key contextual, procedural, and methodological conditions that likely led to success.

The elements increasing the likelihood of policy influence included:

a clear policy question;
local demand for valuation;
strong local partnerships and stakeholder engagement;
good governance with high transparency;
opportunities for revenue-raising;
effective communications and access to decision makers and/or media; and
a clear presentation of methods, assumptions, and limitations.

This analysis suggests that getting the methodology right—a principal concern of economists—is only part of the equation. Valuation practitioners who aspire to achieve impact must also consider wider contextual and procedural factors (such as governance and stakeholder engagement) when assessing the likelihood that their valuation will be influential. Furthermore, absolute accuracy is not always essential, as many stakeholders use valuation results as a ballpark figure to guide decision making. For this reason, valuation should be done on a scale appropriate to the policy question, minimizing costs as far as possible. More precise valuation may be necessary for questions relating to fees and taxes. In all cases, clear presentation of methods, assumptions, and limitations is critical in order to address critiques and legitimize results.

In the Caribbean, interest in ecosystem valuation to inform smart choices about coastal resource conservation and management and associated land use continues to grow. However, based on the results of this analysis, it is clear that valuation practitioners need to do much more to ensure that valuation studies have greater influence. In order to achieve more meaningful impacts, greater effort is necessary to strategically choose, design, and execute valuation studies; communicate valuation results to target audiences; and share successes and failures of influence with other practitioners. We conclude with next steps for building on this analysis, including:

Conduct further consultations with experts and decision makers in the Caribbean and beyond to enlarge the catalog of valuation success stories, and explore additional opportunities for qualitative and quantitative analysis of trends and causality.
Develop standardized approaches to monitor and evaluate the influence of coastal valuations.
Research the “return on investment” of economic valuation for coastal conservation and management in relation to other conservation tools.

The results of this review will inform WRI and our partners’ efforts to produce a standardized framework for economic valuation of coastal ecosystems in the Caribbean. A standardized valuation framework would help produce comparable and credible values across the Caribbean, legitimizing their use among decision makers and increasing their uptake. Drawing from this review, the framework will also contain advice on how to make future economic valuations as influential as possible, so they can realize their potential to catalyze positive changes in policy, management, and investment—helping both to restore the productivity and increase the economic contributions of coastal resources, while safeguarding the Caribbean’s valuable coastal and marine resources for future generations.

Case Study: Aqueduct Informs AU Optronics Corporate Water Strategy

Sarah Parsons — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:31:54 -0400

Executive Summary

The World Resources Institute (WRI) Markets and Enterprise Program conducted a global geographic water risk assessment with multinational electronics manufacturer AU Optronics (AUO). WRI plotted AUO’s fabrication plants worldwide on global maps of water risk using Aqueduct’s Water Risk Atlas. This assessment aims to identify which AUO fabrication plants are located in areas and draw from sources that face potential water risks. From this assessment, WRI concluded that: (a) the majority of AUO’s fabrication plants are located in areas facing relatively low current water risks, including water stress; (b) by 2025, the majority of AUO’s fabrication plants will face medium to high increases in water stress; and (c) the source reservoirs for AUO’s fabrication plants face similar levels of water risk.

This case study allows AUO to better prioritize resources and develop risk mitigation solutions. It is important to note that the scope of this case study is limited to the identification of geographic water risks; it does not aim to develop specific facility-level risk reduction strategies and solutions. In this document, WRI provides some high-level recommendations to AUO on how to move forward in developing corporate water strategy. This case study is intended to help other companies understand how they can use Aqueduct’s Water Risk Atlas to inform corporate water strategy.

Reefs at Risk Revisited in the Coral Triangle

Sarah Parsons — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 10:53:54 -0400

Summary: Reefs at Risk Revisited in the Coral Triangle

Download the 2011 global analysis of threats to coral reefs, Reefs at Risk Revisited

The World Resources Institute produced the report in close collaboration with the USAID-funded Coral Triangle Support Partnership (CTSP). Reefs at Risk Revisited in the Coral Triangle was adapted from WRI’s 2011 global analysis of threats to coral reefs, Reefs at Risk Revisited, and supplemented with more recent and detailed data for the Coral Triangle region.

Threats to coral reefs in the Coral Triangle are much higher than the global average. More than 85 percent of reefs within the Coral Triangle Region are currently threatened by local stressors (such as overfishing, pollution, and coastal development), which is substantially higher than the global average of 60 percent. Nearly 45 percent are at high or very high threat levels. When the influence of recent thermal stress and coral bleaching is combined with these local threats, the percent of reefs rated as threatened increases to more than 90 percent, which is substantially greater than the global average of 75 percent.

Reefs at Risk Revisited in the Coral Triangle studies current and future threats to the Coral Triangle’s reefs, evaluates social and economic vulnerability to reef degradation and loss throughout the six countries, examines reef management initiatives, and identifies solutions to help safeguard reefs.

Insights from the Field: Forests for Water

Kevin Lustig — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:56:29 -0500

Summary

In the Neuse River Basin in North Carolina, WRI is working with partners to identify beneficiaries and their water-related dependencies. We learned that clear documentation of the risks that beneficiaries face from water pollution, drought, and watershed degradation will help jump-start their participation in emerging PWS programs.
In the Sebago Lake Watershed in Maine, WRI is finalizing a methodology for “green-gray” analysis that will provide beneficiaries a way to identify cost-effective green infrastructure solutions to water infrastructure demands of the 21st century. Green infrastructure comprises all natural, seminatural and artificial networks of multifunctional ecological systems within, around, and between urban areas at all spatial scales. We learned that, to convince public investment managers to invest in green rather than gray, it is important to make the financial and business case using the same basic methodologies that are used for calculating the costs and benefits of conventional gray approaches.
WRI is also working to develop PWS programs that help the city of Raleigh meet streetscape, conservation development, tree conservation, storm water management, and water quality goals contained in its Unified Development Ordinance in a least cost manner. We learned that market-based solutions like PWS can play a large role in land-use planning processes and that these processes may represent a large untapped demand driver for PWS programs throughout the South.

2011 Eco-Audit of the Mesoamerican Reef Countries

Maggie Barron — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:59:57 -0500

The Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) provides a diverse array of goods and services to the people of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. It is our shared heritage. Unfortunately, the health of the reef is declining, as documented by the 2008 and 2010 Report Cards published by the Healthy Reefs Initiative. The decline stems, at least in part, from inadequate management of threats to coral reefs. This Eco-Audit evaluates our efforts to protect and sustainably manage the region’s coral reefs; celebrates management success stories; and documents the extent to which recommended management actions have been implemented in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. It seeks to catalyze faster, more effective management responses and to increase accountability within the public and private sectors and among nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

An Innovative, Rigorous Process

The Healthy Reefs Initiative (HRI), in collaboration with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and local partners, developed and implemented this first-ever multinational Eco-Audit of the Mesoamerican Reef Countries.

Evaluation criteria are comprehensive and inclusive.

Twenty-two standardized management indicators were developed across seven themes, such as fisheries management and coastal zone management. The Eco-Audit draws on input from a variety of NGOs, governmental agencies, and the private sector, and includes transparently verified and publicly available results. In September and October 2011, HRI and WRI convened four national workshops, whose purpose was for participants to collectively rank each indicator and to compile documents to verify the rankings.

Analysis is objective, science-based, and validated.

HRI and its regional partners are committed to maintaining audit standards that are unbiased, fact-based, transparent, and replicable. The financial and management auditing firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers Costa Rica (PwC) reviewed the methodology and provided feedback on the processes, indicators, and quality of the verification documentation.

Data quality will be enhanced over time.

This first Eco-Audit establishes a baseline regarding the status of reef ecosystem management efforts. The results are intended to guide data collection and compilation for future Eco-Audits, which will occur every two years. These biennial Eco-Audits and the biennial HRI Reef Report Cards will occur in alternating years, thereby providing a routine accounting of reef health and efforts to improve it. As data collection becomes more complete and the database grows, we anticipate that the Eco-Audit will evolve, becoming more quantitative and comprehensive in its evaluation of management efforts.

Slideshow

2011 Eco-Audit of Mesoamerica Reef Countries

View more presentations from World Resources Institute (WRI)

Exploring Threats to Coral Reefs with GIS Data Sets

Katie Reytar — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:55:52 -0500

This piece originally appeared in the Winter 2012 edition of Esri’s ArcUser Magazine. The full text, graphics, and GIS datasets are available here.

View the online mapping presentation

Assessing Threats, Raising Awareness

WRI has been using GIS to develop highly detailed maps of the threats to coral reefs worldwide since 1998. Coral reefs are vital to maintaining the diversity and viability of marine ecosystems. They provide livelihoods and food for coastal communities and shelter and protection for shorelines.

The goal of the Reefs at Risk project is to produce globally consistent data, maps, and reports that are hybrids of model results and observational evidence that can be used to raise awareness about the location and severity of specific threats to coral reefs. GIS is used to develop spatial indicators linking human activities and livelihoods to pressures on coral reef ecosystems.

Reefs at Risk in the Present, 2030, and 2050: The top map (A) shows reefs classified by present integrated threats from local activities. In the middle (B) and bottom (C) maps, reefs are classified by integrated local threats and projections of thermal stress and ocean acidification for 2030 and 2050

The project has spawned four publications between 1998 and 2011—a global analysis; two detailed regional analyses; and, most recently, a high-resolution update of the first global analysis.

Reefs at Risk Revisited improves on the 1998 global analysis in several important ways. It uses a global map of coral reefs at 500-meter resolution and benefits from improvements in the many global datasets used to evaluate threats to reefs. Most threat data is at 1-square-kilometer resolution. For the first time, it also includes an assessment of climate-related threats to reefs as well as an assessment of the vulnerability of nations and territories to coral reef degradation, based on their dependence on coral reefs and their capacity to adapt. Finally, it takes advantage of the many advances in online web mapping applications, such as ArcGIS Explorer Online, to reach a broader audience that is web savvy, but not necessarily GIS savvy.

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