给水

泄露的水管

Why water is a business issue
为什么水资源是一个商业问题

[Editor’s note: In honor of World Water Day today, GreenBiz is launching Liquid Assets, a monthly column that will explore water as a business issue and the ways in which companies can manage water-related risks in an increasingly constrained world.]

[作者(Will Sarni)提示：为纪念2013年世界水资源日，GreenBiz官方网站发布了《Liquid Assets》月刊专栏,用于探讨水资源的商业问题以及在当今日益受限环境中企业应对与水相关风险的方法。]

《Liquid Assets》月刊专栏网址:《Liquid Assets》

 

Water has emerged as a prominent business and public sector issue in recent years, driven by the lack of access to clean water and sanitation, interruptions in business operations and food production, climate change and more disclosure of water risks.

近几年，由于清洁水资源的缺乏，导致企业运作出现中断、粮食减产、气候变化等水资源危机被批漏出来，水资源已然成为的商业和公共部门关心的问题。

A growing number of government agencies, investors, NGOs and other stakeholders are also releasing reports on water risks and the associated business opportunities. We’re also seeing more water accounting and water risk evaluation tools being developed by several NGOs.

也有越来越多的政府机构、投资者、非政府组织以及其它的利益相关者发布了水资源危机及相关商业机遇的研究报告，我们也观察到在一些非政府机构正在开发更多的水资源核算和风险评估工具。

My goal in forthcoming columns is to provide additional insight into why water is a business issue and discuss approaches to mitigating water-related risks and new business opportunities in “water tech.” More importantly, the focus will be on how water is connected to other resource issues, such as energy and agriculture, and integrated (systems thinking) approaches to addressing risks.

在即将发布的《Liquid Assets》月刊专栏，我们将就为什么水资源是一个商业问题提供更多的见解，讨论缓解水资源危机的方法和“水科技”领域新的商业机遇。更重要的是，将重点探索如何将水资源与能源、农业等其它资源问题联系起来，重点关注应对水资源危机的综合(系统思维)方法。

I come at the water issue as someone with a technical background — I started my career as a hydrogeologist — and a sustainability strategy focus. As such, my goals are to provide a practical view of water stewardship, along with insight and perspective on risks and business opportunities.

我的职业生涯始于水文地质工作，作为一个有技术背景的作者来讨论水资源问题，并且是可持续发展战略的重点问题。我的目标是提供一种水资源管理的实践观，连同一些水资源危机及商业机遇的见解和思考。

I will focus on water primarily as a business issue. However, this is not as straightforward as it sounds. Innovation in partnerships is now referred to as collective action. Technology developments — the boundaries between private and public sector water issues and responses — is now blurred. Water is a shared resource and engaging with a wide range of stakeholders is essential in developing solutions.
我讨论的重点是水资源首先是一个商业问题，但不是字面意义上的说法。现在合作伙伴之间的关系被称为集体行为，科技的发展使得私有部门和公共部门应对水资源问题和响应方式的界线有些模糊，因此，水资源作为一种共享资源，有广泛的利益相关者共同参与制定解决方案是非常重要的。

Many are tempted to brand water as the “new oil” or develop water strategies in the same manner as greenhouse gas strategies. In my experience, however, the comparisons aren’t helpful in addressing water risk or identifying business opportunities. Water is fundamentally different and these differences are essential in developing long-term water stewardship strategies.
许多人试图将水资源标榜为“新石油”，或者采用与温室效应战略相同的方式制定水资源战略。然而根据我的经验，以上这些做法对于解决水资源危机和识别商业机遇是没有帮助的，水资源与其它物质是存在根本区别，这些区别在制定长期水资源管理战略方面显得至关重要。

In short, water has economic, environmental, social and cultural dimensions. Unlike carbon, water is not fungible; a liter of water in the U.S. is not the same as a liter elsewhere. The quality of the water, the timing of the withdrawal, etc., all matter. While access to water and sanitation are global issues, solutions are local and stakeholders within a watershed care about how businesses use water.
简言之，水资源有经济、环境、社会和农业上的纬度。不同于碳资源，水资源是不可替代的；一公升的水在不同地方有不一样的价值，因此，清洁水资源虽然是一个全球性问题，但是解决方案却是因地制宜的，一个流域内的利益相关者关心的是如何使用水资源。

While it is also tempting to include water technologies under the clean-tech tagline, it is not helpful to do so, either. The water industry and issues associated with commercializing water technologies are different than the bundle of technologies under the clean-tech umbrella (more on this in a later column).
虽然在清洁技术的口号下加入水资源技术很有吸引力，但这样做也是没有帮助的。水工业和商业化水技术相关的问题不同于清洁技术保护伞下的一系列技术。（本栏目后期会详述）

Finally, we often refer to the concept of water scarcity. We should be clear that water is globally abundant but finite. Within a watershed and region, demand can often exceed supply, or there is a drought and in these cases water is “scarce.” The bottom line: Water is globally abundant but it can be locally “scarce.”
最后，我们经常提到水资源短缺这个概念。我们应该清楚的知道，全球的水资源是非常丰富的，但却是有限的。一个流域和地区的水资源需求量时常大于供给量时，或者出现干旱时，称之为“水资源短缺”。我们应该至少明白:地球上的水资源非常丰富，但在局部区域是“短缺的”。

Water is old business and the issues in some ways haven’t changed. What has changed is that water management has moved to water stewardship and the true value of water is now being better understood.

水资源是一门古老的商业，但在某种层度上水资源问题并没有改变。发生改变的是从用水管理转变为水资源管理，还有今天的人们对水资源的价值有了更好的认识。

I suggest a couple of reports to frame the business issues and value of water. These reports explain why water is a business issue and get the conversation going on the specific risk, opportunities, strategies, public policies and technology developments:

我建议编写系列报告来框定水资源商业问题和水资源的价值，解释为什么水资源是一个商业问题，就具体的风险、机会、策略、公共政策和技术发展展开对话。

• 2012 CDP Water Disclosure reports (Global 500 and S&P500)

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report on the importance of water to the U.S. economy

来源：Why water is a business issue

作者：Will Sarni

Will Sarni

Founder and CEO of Water Foundry