ENV 300 Session 2

8/6/2019 ENV 300 Session 2

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USTAINABLE USTAINABLEDEVELOPMENTEVELOPMENTENV300NV300 ession 2ession 2

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Recap of last 2 Session 1

slidesResponding to the environmental challenge:

Business environmental performance is defined asthe ability to manage the extent of harmfuleffects due to the interaction with the

environment (e.g. the ability to prevent,eliminate, reduce and/or control any suchharmful effects)

Benefits of performance:Cost advantage (e.g. cheaper finance, lower

insurance)Competitive advantage (e.g. improved media

coverage, improved product quality)Increased market shareBusiness environmental performance is defined as

the ability to manage the extent of harmfuleffects due to the interaction with

8/6/2019 ENV 300 Session 2


Water as a limited

resourceWhat is water?

Complex interplay of local and globalinfluences

Global water challenge

Water for business

Redistribution challenge

Water stress & usageWastewater management case

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What is water?“Water – a colourless, transparent, odourless, tasteless

liquid compound of oxygen and hydrogen”

Concise Oxford Dictionary

“Everyone understands that water is essential to life. Butmany are only just now beginning to grasp howessential it is to everything in life – food, energy,transportation, nature, leisure, identity, culture, social

norms, and virtually all the products used on a dailybasis. With population growth and economicdevelopment driving accelerating demand foreverything, the full value of water is becomingincreasingly apparent to all.”

World Business Council for Sustainable Development

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Sustainable water

management“Enough water, of sufficient quality, at the right

time, and at the right place to meet theongoing needs of this and future generations

and of the ecosystem as a whole”

World Business Council for Sustainable Development

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Problem statistics ... The world is not “running out of water,” but it

is not always available when and wherepeople need it. Climate, normal seasonal

variations, droughts and floods can allcontribute to local extreme conditions.

The global situationLess than 3% of the world’s water is fresh –

the rest is seawater and undrinkableOf this 3% over 2.5% is frozen, locked up inAntarctica the Arctic and glaciers, and notavailable to man

Thus humanity must rely on this 0.5% for all of

man’s and ecosystem’s freshwater needs.

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Problem statistics ...Locating the 0.5% fresh water:10,000,000 ckm stored in underground aquifers

Since 1950 there has been a rapid expansion of groundwater exploitation providing:

50% of all drinking water 40% of industrial water 20% of irrigation water

119,000 ckm net of rainfall falling on land afteraccounting for evaporation

91,000 ckm in natural lakes

Over 5,000 ckm in man-made storage facilities –reservoirs There has been a 7-fold increase in global storage

capacity since 1950.

2,120 ckm in rivers – constantly replaced from rainfalland melting snow and ice

1 cubic kilometre (ckm) = 1,000,000,000 cubic metre

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Problem statistics ...

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Complex interplay of local

and global influences

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PeoplePopulation growth, urbanization, sanitation,

water supply, demographic and structuralchanges, increasing per capita consumption

of water with economic development andlifestyle changes, rising water supply-sanitation gaps, public health and pollutionburdens, the growing reach and impact of city

water needs and discharges on ecosystemservices and products

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PlanetEcosystem degradation, biodiversity losses,

climate change leading to sea level rise andchanges in the hydrological cycle, rainfall

patterns, natural disasters (floods, droughts,hurricanes), the melting of ice caps andglaciers, the rates and patterns of river flow,man-made disasters (such as chemical spills)

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Past legacy systemsInadequate or poorly maintained infrastructure,

financing and pricing systems, pollutionloads, water over extraction, water-service

pricing, cultural practices and attitudes thathinder innovation

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PoliticsDiffering cultural assumptions and means of

judging water challenges, inadequate politicaland organizational systems, lack of political

leverage, upstream-downstream issues,access, equity, lack of education, cooperationor conflict between users, includingintergenerational, international and intra-

urban disputes, water as lacking any politicalvalue as an issue, manipulation of information, lack of a political voice for theecosystem

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PoliciesLack of coherent policies and their application

(governance), varying emphasis on a range of policy objectives (for example, efficiency,

security of supply, wider access, and equity),shift towards adaptive policies, issues of bestpractice, public-private partnerships,capacity-building, corruption, difficulties

inherent in creating policies regardingembedded water in global trade, global watermanagement issues

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Global water challengeEfficiency challenge

“More value per drop and more drops for less”

Leads to innovation

Security challenge

Quantity and quality for all

Freshwater stress is increasing and faster than

expected ...How much water will be withdrawn with

respect to the amount that is naturallyavailable?

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Water for businessAll businesses depend on water

Continuity and future success of any business areimpacted by the availability, cost, and quality of

water at many points along the ‘value chain’,including ‘upstream’ (in the production andsupply of raw materials), ‘midstream’ (in whatbusinesses make from raw materials or other pre-processed inputs), and ‘downstream’ (consumers

need water, and everyone needs water to betreated and recycled)

In the near future the water managementchallenges facing humanity will become morecomplex, as the prospect of water shortages,

scarcities, and stresses will increase

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Redistribution challenge“Water management is, by definition, conflictmanagement.”

Worldwatch Institute

Water is not distributed evenly over the globe -fewer than 10 countries possess 60% of theworld’s available freshwater supply:Brazil, Russia, China, Canada, Indonesia, U.S.,

India, Columbia and the Democratic Republic of Congo

China ranks fourth in the world for renewable waterresources, but because of its large population, it

has only 1/4 of the global average of water per

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Redistribution challenge

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Redistribution challengeBy 2010, low-income and emerging economiesoften lack safe drinking water – but if theywant clean water, they have to pay for it

This leads to rich getting richer and poorgetting poorer – citizens distrustsgovernments

Also in developed world, old water systemsresults in greater costs – in 2015, for the 1sttime, middle-class households struggle to payfor water bills

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Causes of water stressExcessive withdrawal of surface waters

Excessive withdrawal of water fromunderground aquifers

Pollution of freshwater resources

Inefficient use of freshwater

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Water usage

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Water for agriculture

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Cooling water

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Domestic1.8 million peopledie every yearfrom diarrhoeal

diseases(includingcholera) – theequivalent of 15

killer tsunamiseach year or 12Boeing 747crashes every

day

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Virtual water ... 1kg = ?Water does notconvertproportionately

into food productsIncreased

population andwealth has

increased demandfor higher foodproducts

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Trends affecting

freshwater usePopulation growth

Increased affluence

Expanding business activity

Rapid urbanisation

Climate change

Aging infrastructure

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Best management

practicesDrip irrigation uses plastic pipes that release waterdirectly onto the roots of the plants without floodingthe entire field, and recapture any excess water forreuse

Ashkelon, Israel – a new desalination plant on theMediterranean Sea, just north of Gaza is deliveringfreshwater at USD 0.50 per cubic meter down fromUSD 2.50 in the early 1990s. This was achieved by animproved reverse osmosis system requiring lessenergy to drive seawater through the desalination unit

Singapore is recycling “gray water” to drinking qualitystandards by using a new filtration technology(Stockholm Industry Water Award winner in 2007).

An auto/truck manufacturer operating in an arid regionof Mexico reduced its water consumption per unit of output by 90% (Stockholm Industry Water Award

winner in 2001)

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Wastewater management

caseDiscuss and present in groups:

How can water be used more efficiently

How is wastewater treated

Opinions relating to the Kuwait wastewatermanagement

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Next week ...Soil as a limited resource Managing soil

Articles will be emailed by Friday afternoon

These articles are required readingsGroup work: be prepared to discuss and

present ideas and opinions generatedfrom the readings

ENV 300 Session 2

Documents

Transcript of ENV 300 Session 2