(Energy) Business in the World of Water “the H2O Scenarios”

Building on the messages from the scenarios, there are some actions the energy business can or should undertake. The Hydro scenario focuses on the requirement water efficient energy technologies. Water must be therefore be recognized as a constraint and integrated in innovation processes. The River scenario highlights the importance of knowing your water footprint. To anticipate where engagement is required to secure its activity, the energy business should understand its present and future footprint in general. A fist step already has been taken through the development of a WBCSD Global Water Inventory Tool. This tool will be developed to provide waterrelated information on operations,
supply chain and consumer markets, to enable companies to prioritize and address current risks and evaluate longer term business investment decisions. The Ocean scenario highlights the need for connecting the dots between land, energy, water and climate to create opportunities the energy business would otherwise remain blind to. This requires concerted action among various sectors. As a first step in that direction, the energy and climate focus area of the WBCSD has established “Energy, Water and Climate Change work stream. Lifecycle studies on the various future energy paths like bio fuels like should address implications on water and food security.