15/05/2026
It seems crazy that policymakers and financial institutions are still ‘waking up’ to water. The UN’s [UN Sustainable Development Group] Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) calls on governments to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030, yet there is still a considerable amount of work to do before that target is even remotely achievable.
SDG6.6 specifically stated: By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes. Clearly, there is some way to go before this becomes a global achievement.
The economic benefits of doing so have been clear for a long time. In 2012, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) detailed why watershed conservation made more sense than building or repairing grey infrastructure.
More recently, large companies (think Apple, Google, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and more) have all incorporated water into their sustainability reports, and water stewardship standards are helping companies assess and improve their impact at site and basin levels.
One of the leading programmes is run by the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS). This has recently been upgraded from v2.0 to v3.0.
In this Viewpoint article, Alicia Dauth, water assurance technical lead at Water Security Collective, shares her thoughts on the recent changes and why stewardship is so important for companies looking to mitigate operational risks while enhancing the ecosystems in which they operate.