LCAW: Building Water Resilient Futures, Businesses & Leaders

As organisations face increasing pressure to build resilience against climate change, resource scarcity and geopolitical uncertainty, water stewardship is emerging as a critical business priority. 

Moving beyond water risk management towards water positivity, companies are recognising the need to protect, replenish and restore the freshwater resources that underpin their operations, supply chains and communities.

From safeguarding shared water resources to driving more sustainable and equitable value chains, businesses are increasingly understanding that long-term success depends on creating positive water impacts while addressing broader environmental and social challenges.

This critical issue is taking centre stage at Sustainability LIVE @ London Climate Action Week – The Leadership Summit, in association with Philip Morris International, on 25 June 2026 at CodeNode London. 

The Water Positivity Forum

This panel explored how organisations can move beyond traditional water management approaches to build resilient, sustainable and water-positive systems. 

As water security becomes one of the most pressing sustainability challenges facing businesses and communities worldwide, the discussion will highlight the importance of collaboration and collective action.

With more than 2 billion people lacking access to safe water and 3.4 billion to safe sanitation, the need to protect and restore water resources has never been more urgent. 

Speakers of the panel include:

• Isabelle Spiegel, Vice-President, Environment, VINCI
• Erin Augustine, Vice President, Global Sustainability, Oatly
• Dr Alan Knight, Chief Sustainability Officer, WE Soda
• David Moore, ESG Director, The Compleat Food Group
• Mai-Lan Ha, Director of Private Sector Policy and Advocacy, WaterAid
• Darshana Myronidis, Global Sustainability Leader, Independent.

Promoting water efficiency

At the panel discussion, David, Mai-Lan, Alan, Erin and Isabelle discussed being water-conscious for communities and businesses and when tackling climate change.

Mai-Lan asked a key question during the panel discussion: "Are we working quickly enough to make sure basins are becoming more resilient?"

She also emphasised the importance of collaboration, highlighting WaterAid's collaboration with WWF in Cambodia and the Women + Water Collaborative initiative in India, both focusing on water resources, management and sanitation.

Isabelle also emphasised the importance of adapting to climate change, saying, "We need to find ways to adapt to climate change, looking at different specificities and taking into account water solutions."

Focusing on construction and mining, Alan understands that the future must hold "water stewardship and water collaboration", due to water being a shared source amongst communities but also understanding there is a "clear boundary in water."

David emphasised the importance of validated SBTi targets, recognising that "the carbon piece is a global challenge, water is very much local."

Erin agreed and stated that "water is a critical ingredient, we need to make sure we are working with the community."

Ending the panel, Erin was asked what advice she has for the future: "Commit to upscaling, bring water into the climate conversation and commit to education."

Alan added two key questions:

• What would happen to our businesses if we had a third of water that we currently have?

• What would happen if your neighbours had half the amount of water that you do?

The importance of water positivity 

Water positivity is an emerging approach to sustainability that focuses on moving beyond reducing water consumption towards actively protecting, restoring and replenishing water resources. 

The goal is to create a positive impact on water ecosystems by ensuring that more water is conserved or restored than is consumed.

Today, the approach has expanded across industries as organisations recognise that responsible water stewardship is essential to building resilience against climate change, resource scarcity and increasing pressure on global water systems.

A major example is Get Blue, an initiative by Water.org that supports access to safe water and sanitation. 

Launched alongside Gap Inc., Amazon, Starbucks and Ecolab, the initiative uses their combined global influence to fund solutions that improve water access. 

The companies will provide products, content and experiences to help generate funding for water programmes, with solutions being developed across the fashion, food and beverage and technology sectors. 

The launch of the project is planned for later in 2026.

Alongside this partnership, Amazon has developed a water stewardship programme highlighting its ambitions and progress towards water positivity. 

The company has invested in water reuse and replenishment projects that aim to increase water access, availability and quality by restoring watersheds and supporting clean water and sanitation initiatives in some of the world’s most water-stressed communities. 

Amazon currently has more than 45 water replenishment projects across 14 countries, which are expected to return approximately 18 billion litres of water to communities each year. 

The importance of these efforts is reflected in global water challenges. 

In 2023, an estimated 2.2 billion people still lacked access to safely managed drinking water, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

The WHO has highlighted that improved access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene could prevent the deaths of around 1,000 children under five every day. 

In addition, a 2022 World Bank report found that water-related disasters have dominated global disaster records over the past 50 years, accounting for 70% of all deaths linked to natural disasters.

These challenges demonstrate why water positivity is becoming an increasingly important part of corporate sustainability strategies, helping businesses move from reducing harm towards creating measurable positive impact.