April 2024

The Future of Water:

Impacting Businesses and Communities

Above: clips from Thinking Like Water – a documentary that follows “water wizard” Bill Zeedyk and protégés as they demonstrate how to restore degraded watersheds by working with Nature to gird against the extremes of drought, fire and flood.

Welcome to our special April issue on ‘The Future of Water: Impacting Businesses and Communities’. It has been a surprisingly quick two years since we last devoted an entire issue to the theme of Water. Our featured writers have a variety of important things to say, but it all boils down to – Water is Life.

Kirsten James, program director of Water at Ceres, encapsulates the April issue well, stating “As the global water crisis worsens, so do financial risks facing companies and their investors, driving many to prioritize water risk and act as responsible water stewards in their operations and supply chains. Fresh water is essential to people, ecosystems and business. Growing water scarcity and pollution is threatening these systems and slowing the pathway to a climate resilient future. No industry or community is immune from this crisis.”

In addition to Kirsten, the other featured writers include: Investing in the Future of Water and Sanitation by Elan Emanuel of WaterEquity (an asset manager, cofounded by actor Matt Damon and Gary White of Water.org). Also, How the Future of Water will Impact Businesses and Communities by Doug Pushard of KuelWater and HarvestH2O, as well as The Economic and Water Impacts of the EPA’s “Slaughterhouse” Rule by Marc Yaggi of Waterkeeper Alliance.

You will also find a new article by indigenous economist and founder of First Peoples Worldwide, Rebecca Adamson on Water + Indigenous Peoples Rights = Risk. And, ImpactAssets just released the new edition of their ImpactAssets 50 List, spotlighting a diverse landscape of impact investment fund managers.  

Finally, we congratulate Sallie Krawchek and the Ellevest team who recently hit the $2 billion mark of assets under management. Well done. She saw many years ago, that focusing on the financial power of women was under represented in the marketplace.

Staying on that theme, in case you missed our March ‘Women and Impact Investing’ issue, (all written by women) you can still find their excellent articles here on our website.

As the busy spring conference season continues, you can keep up to date on forthcoming events with GreenMoney’s Global Green Events Calendar. Let me recommend two June conferences: GreenFin the Sustainable Finance and Investing event in NYC, and the US SIF Forum on Investing in a Sustainable Future in Chicago (which I will be attending).

– Cliff Feigenbaum, founder & publisher

GreenMoney Interviews: Kirsten James on Ceres’ Valuing Water Finance Initiative

As the global water crisis worsens, so do financial risks facing companies and their investors. Kirsten James, senior program director of Water at the sustainability nonprofit Ceres, answers questions from Cliff Feigenbaum, GreenMoney founder about the Valuing Water Finance Initiative, which is a global, investor-led effort driving companies to prioritize water risk and act as responsible water stewards in their operations and supply chains.
 

Investing in the Future of Water and Sanitation

Elan Emanuel
WaterEquity
Impact investing can transform the landscape of safe water and sanitation by addressing the complex challenges posed by the water crisis, climate change, and gender disparities. By supporting innovative household solutions and investing in climate-resilient infrastructure, impact investors can contribute to the UN SDGs and improve the well-being of communities around the world, aligning values with the potential for financial returns that helps build resilient communities.
 

The Economic and Water Impacts of the EPA’s “Slaughterhouse” Rule

Marc Yaggi
Waterkeeper Alliance
The EPA has a decision to make, as it is considering new water pollution standards for slaughterhouses and rendering facilities in response to lawsuits from environmental organizations. Despite its stated mission to safeguard human health and the environment, EPA's current regulations do not address phosphorus discharges, and the agency has neglected to update water pollution standards for other harmful pollutants from this industry for 20 years, as required by the Clean Water Act.
 

How the Future of Water will Impact Businesses and Communities

Doug Pushard
KuelWater and HarvestH2O
Water is the essence of life, and yet it is almost universally taken for granted. This is at a time when we are seeing unprecedented and dire water issues globally. Water is managed as a resource (i.e., drinking water) and a waste product (i.e., stormwater) while also being managed as both a business and as a common good. Population growth and new housing development are two major issues underlying the need to find more water, yet water is often not linked to land use management.  
 
 

Equity in Every Drop podcast – Episode 1: Marc Yaggi, CEO of Waterkeeper Alliance (WA), and the Reverend Dr. Gerald Durley, a human and civil rights advocate, discuss WA’s vital work and the intersections between water, climate change and environmental rights. Marc elaborates on Waterkeeper Alliance’s mission to unite over 300 Waterkeeper groups worldwide to protect waterways against pollution and climate change, emphasizing their community-based advocacy approach. Reverend Durley and Marc discuss the importance of individual and collective action in addressing the climate crisis, advocating for sustainable practices and policy changes, and the importance of engaging communities to ensure water quality, quantity and security, particularly for vulnerable communities already bearing the brunt of climate change.

Additional Articles

Enoughness The Prequel with Tantoo Cardinal--video

Water + Indigenous Peoples Rights = Risk

Rebecca Adamson
First Peoples Worldwide
As far as life goes, priorities can’t get much bigger than Water. As far as the financial markets, Water is such a huge fundamental risk that it could cause another recession or financial crisis when we reach a tipping point. Studies have found that companies with poor Indigenous Peoples (IP) risk management also had low ESG social performance ratings and higher risk.
From Seawater to Drinkable Water Using Wave Power

From Seawater to Drinkable Water Using Wave Power

Ethan Berg
Climate and Capital Media
Oneka Technologies has developed a floating desalination system that can turn seawater into drinkable water using renewable wave power. The machines require less energy to remove salt than large, shore-based desalination plants so they can provide freshwater to coastal communities and industries with less environmental impact.
Navigating the Canals of Water Investing by Garvin Jabusch and Betsy Moszeter Green Alpha Advisors

Navigating the Canals of Water Investing

Garvin Jabusch and Betsy Moszeter
Green Alpha Advisors
From the March 2022 Archive – Water is elemental. Crucial for life as we know it. Finite in supply, particularly fresh water, and is degraded over time by countless contaminants. Add it all up and it seems like the perfect combination of inelastic demand and diminishing supply. We need more, and better access to, safe, fresh water. It seems very straightforward to invest in freshwater solutions, but is it?
IA 30 ImpacAssets 2024 Fund Managers Listr eleased

ImpactAssets 2024 Impact Investment Fund Managers List

Now in its 13th year, the ImpactAssets 50 is the most recognized free database of impact investment fund managers. This list is a gateway into the world of impact investing for investors, financial advisors, and philanthropists. The IA 50 offers an easy way to identify experienced and emerging impact fund managers and illustrates the breadth of impact fund managers operating across geographies, sectors and asset classes.
Morningstar Launches Low Carbon Transition Leaders Indexes

Morningstar Launches Low Carbon Transition Leaders Indexes

This series of nine new global benchmarks, underpinned by the Sustainalytics Low Carbon Transition Ratings, will help investors target a broad range of companies that are leading their peers in their readiness for - and action towards - transitioning to a low-carbon economy. A few companies included in the indexes for leading the way in their approach to climate transition and net zero include Taiwan Semiconductor and BMW.
New Sustainability Summit Announced by The Water Council

New Sustainability Summit Announced by The Water Council & Marquette University

The Water Council, a nonprofit dedicated to solving global water challenges, and Marquette University’s Sustainability Lab, which researches and disseminates knowledge as well as develops managers around effective sustainability and stewardship practices, announced the ‘Nexus Sustainability Leaders Summit’, a national conference in Oct. 2024 on corporate sustainability, water and energy resiliency, and stewardship.

 
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