July 2021
World Water Week 2021: Water Resilience in a Changing Climate
The complexity of global water challenges requires collaboration, from community-based organizations to businesses. Join us this year at World Water Week as we explore tools and strategies for water resilience under a changing climate, from nature-based solutions to opportunities for collective action. These sessions will be co-convened with the CEO Water Mandate, an initiative of the UN Global Compact for which we serve as Co-Secretariat. The CEO Water Mandate mobilizes business leaders to support water sustainability and water, sanitation, and hygiene access around the world.

Register now for the all-virtual World Water Week 2021 free of charge!

Our global economy is crucially dependent on fresh water. Climate change introduces impacts and uncertainties to the water cycle that pose significant material risks to business as usual. The private sector must adapt and innovate to thrive. This seminar will convene business leaders with diverse stakeholders to consider leadership positions, advances in science and practice, and robust solutions to build resilience to our wicked climate change challenge.

Conveners: IKEA of Sweden AB, Stockholm International Water Institute, the CEO Water Mandate, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Session 1 I Corporate Leadership
Monday, August 23 | 07:30-08:55 CEST

Session 2 I Collective Action
Tuesday, August 24 | 13:00-14:00 CEST

Session I Tools and Approaches
Wednesday, August 25 | 14:30-15:55 CEST
Thursday, August 26 | 07:30-08:55 CEST (repeat session)

Language: English
Learn more and register for this and all World Water Week events here.



Climate shocks and stressors have shown that traditional sustainability metrics like efficiency and accessibility are insufficient. Can we define resilience targets and pathways for businesses, utilities, and basin authorities for an unknown future? This session will present an innovative framework to assess water system resilience with the ultimate goal of creating shared understanding and collective action.

Conveners: Alliance for Global Water Adaptation, International Water Management Institute, the Pacific Institute, the CEO Water Mandate, and the World Resources Institute

August 24, 2021 | 18:30-19:30 CEST
August 26, 2021 | 19:00-20:00 CEST (repeat session)
Language: English
Learn more and register for this and all World Water Week events here.



The Water Action Hub is a free global online collaboration and knowledge-sharing platform connecting more than 1,000 businesses, NGOs and others around the world to foster collective action. This year, the launch of the Water Action Hub 4.0 will offer companies additional tools to assess and improve their water stewardship actions. The new Water Action Hub will also provide additional opportunities for companies to understand the links between water stewardship and climate resilience. Gain insight into the opportunities for your business or organization!

Conveners: The Pacific Institute and the CEO Water Mandate

Date: August 24, 2021 | 21:00-21:25 CEST
Language: English
Learn more and register for this and all World Water Week events here.



How can water access, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) be climate resilient? This session will feature WASH4Work members sharing key learnings, including the business case for WASH as well as WASH best practices in operations, supply chains, and communities. The session will also launch a discussion about the future-looking agenda of climate-resilient WASH.

Conveners: The Pacific Institute and the CEO Water Mandate

Date: August 25, 2021 | 07:00-08:00 CEST
Language: English
Learn more and register for this and all World Water Week events here.
Learn more about WASH4Work here.



The lack of standardized approaches to effectively identify, quantify, and value the potential benefits of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) has been a hurdle to mainstream private sector investment in their implementation. Several organizations are creating guidance and accompanying instruments to address this challenge. This session will showcase innovative tools that can support the business case for NBS investments and allow companies to make informed decisions regarding water security, climate resilience (including greenhouse gas emissions reduction), and biodiversity conservation.

Conveners: Danone, Denkstatt, Ecometrics LLC, LimnoTech, the Pacific Institute, the CEO Water Mandate, The Coca-Cola Company, The Nature Conservancy, and Restore the Earth

Date: August 25, 2021 | 21:00-22:00 CEST
Language: English
Learn more and register for this and all World Water Week events here.
As forward-thinking cities become increasingly adept at capturing and reusing wastewater, stormwater, and greywater, essential river systems may be at risk. Learn how the "One Water" approach to water management can deliver healthy waterways with Pacific Institute Senior Researcher Dr. Sarah Diringer at the 2021 American Water Resources Association Connecting Land & Water for Healthy Communities conference. The conference will bring people together to address the design, integration, and implementation of programs to better connect land and water planning and policy.

Date: July 19-21, 2021 
Language: English 
Learn more and register here.



Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) use or mimic natural processes to meet societal and environmental needs. They can be used to restore, manage, or protect water resources while also increasing biodiversity and providing additional social and economic benefits. Yet NBS are under-utilized, partly because of a lack of frameworks and tools for identifying the benefits and monetizing the full scope of co-benefits these solutions provide. The final event in a three-part series on NBS for watersheds, this webinar will be the official launch of the NBS Benefits Explorer tool for benefit identification and accounting.

Date: September 9, 2021 I 8:00-9:00AM PT
Language: English 
Learn more and register here.
Update from the CEO Water Mandate: Profiles in Leadership: Water.org and Jennifer Schorsch
The Pacific Institute is Co-Secretariat of the CEO Water Mandate, a UN Global Compact initiative that mobilizes business leaders on water, sanitation, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 
"Eighty eight percent of companies are aware that there is a water risk, but only 44% have a plan,” says Jennifer Schorsch, President of Water.org, in this latest installment of Profiles in Leadership from the Water Resilience Coalition. Profiles in Leadership is a series of video interviews in which the CEOs of the endorsing companies and partners of the Water Resilience Coalition speak up about their aim to elevate global water stress to the top of the corporate agenda.
 
Learn more here.
Op-Eds Explore Implications of the Climate Crisis
By Pacific Institute President Emeritus Dr. Peter Gleick
"No one wants to be a statistic in a climate disaster—an anonymous entry in a dataset of extreme events. But sometimes things sneak up on you..." Read more.

The Guardian: The Climate Crisis will Create Two Classes: Those Who Can Flee, and Those Who Cannot
"...The climate crisis is going to produce two classes of refugees: those with the freedom and financial resources to try, for a while at least, to flee from growing threats in advance, and those who will be left behind to suffer the consequences in the form of illness, death and destruction." Read more.
Pacific Institute in the News: Focus on Drought
The Pacific Institute is the media’s go-to resource for water-related information and analysis. As the drought crisis in the American West continues, here are some highlights from our recent interviews on drought in this water-parched region:

New Scientist: How Can We Adapt to the Intense Heat and Drought in the Western US?

The Telegraph: California's Heat Dome Poses Unprecedented Challenge for World's Fifth Biggest Economy

SF Gate: Why Some Californians Are Running Out of Water in 2021 and Others Aren’t

KVPR: Report: Groundwater Overhaul Could Threaten Drinking Water of More Than a Million Valley Residents

The Press Democrat: These Are the California Crops that Use the Most Water

For information and resources on drought in California, check out www.californiadrought.org.

Read more news featuring Pacific Institute research and experts here.
In Case You Missed It: Recent Pacific Institute Webinars
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