1. Water Pollution in China: Workshop at Nanjing
University
How Can Business Help? January 15, 2010

2. Overview
1. How is BSR involved?
2. Why companies care about water pollution
3. Current approaches in China
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3. We work with business to create a just and sustainable world
We have worked in more than 70 Languages & Dialects Spoken:
countries from six offices in Asia,
Europe, and North America Cantonese Japanese Spanish
Dutch Kannada Swedish
San Francisco English Lao Tagalog
Beijing French Mandarin Taiwanese
Guangzhou German Portuguese Thai
Hong Kong Guarani Russian Urdu
New York Hindi Shona Vietnamese
Paris Italian
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4. Member Network: over 250 companies from a broad range of industries
Sample corporate members include:
Alcatel-Lucent IKEA Pfizer
Aramex International Kraft Foods Royal Dutch Shell
Bank of New York Mellon John Wiley & Sons SAP
Cisco Systems Levi Strauss & Co. Sodexo Group
Citigroup Marks & Spencer Sony Corporation
The Coca-Cola Company McDonald’s Corporation Starbucks Coffee Company
Duke Energy McGraw-Hill Time Warner
Ford Motor Company Microsoft Wal-Mart Stores
GE Nike The Walt Disney Company
IBM Novartis Wells Fargo & Company
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5. The BSR Approach
Research &
Innovation
Consulting
Services
Member
Network
Cross-sector
Collaboration
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6. Why Companies Care about
Water Pollution
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7. Brand is everything
“Gap, Levi Strauss factory pollution
exposed in Africa”
“Coca-Cola, Pepsi on Beijing’s worst polluter list”
--AFP, 19 August 2009
Photo: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Gap-And-Levi-Promise-Action-After-
Manufacturing-Operations-Exposed-As-Causing-Pollution-In-Africa/Article/200908115351904 7

8. “China’s waterways pay price in
textile boom”
--Wall Street Journal, August 26, 2007
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9. It costs money
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10. Water Management = Risk Management
Risk Impact
Physical • Disruption from lack of availability
• Reallocation to other needs during
drought
Regulation • Suspension of discharge or supply
permit
• Price increases driven by scarcity
Reputation • Competition with community needs
• Brand damage by association with
suppliers’ impact on freshwater
resources
Source: JP Morgan. 2008. Watching Water: A Guide to Evaluating
Corporate Risks in a Thirsty World. Available at http://www.jpmorgan.com 10

11. It’s the right thing to do
• Clean, safe water is vital for ecosystem and
human health
• Increased transparency and sustainability
reporting is shining a light on many
environmental impacts that companies hadn’t
paid attention to
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12. Water issues are not going away
• Competing demands from industry, residents,
agriculture, recreation are only going to increase
• The right to use water is going to become more
and valuable, and more and more political
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13. What are Companies Doing in
China?
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14. Risk Assessments
• Water footprints
• Supply chain assessment
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15. Supply Chains -- Compliance
• Expanded environmental compliance programs
• External verification of supplier performance by
audit firms, NGOs
• Shared standards for supplier water quality
guidelines
• Monitoring – Web H2O
• Detailed Code of Conduct requirements
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16. Sustainable Water Group
Dedicated to responsible practices around water use and wastewater
discharge in supply chains using industry-developed guidelines.
1 Clear and consistent expectations for the Member Companies
environmental performance of mills and Coldwater Creek, Inc.
laundries regarding wastewater Gap Inc.
2 Standards are reviewed by H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB
environmental and textile industry JC Penney Company
experts to ensure adequacy and LL Bean
technical feasibility Levi Strauss & Co.
3 Standards designed to allow individual NIKE, Inc.
companies to implement a water effluent Nordstrom, Inc.
treatment program that fits their business Timberland
objectives
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17. WebH2O: Online Environmental Database Tool
BSR-AWQWG WATER QUALITY GUIDELINES &
TESTING STANDARDS
Parameter 2006 2007 2008
Sampling
Temperature
pH
Traditional Parameters:
Total Suspended Solids
Biochemical Oxygen
Demand
Chemical Oxygen
Demand
Chemical Constituents:
Antimony
Arsenic
Cadmium
Chromium
Cobalt
Copper
Cyanide
Lead
Mercury
Nickel
Zinc
Color
Foam:
Domestic Sewage:
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18. Supply Chains -- Support
• Intensive in-person help to improve wastewater
management technology and processes
• Training for wastewater managers (CTI)
• Occasional encouragement
• Tie incentives (production orders) to
performance on water issues
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19. Water Resource Management Training
Development of education and training programs in water and
wastewater management.
• Providing water management
training for factory managers.
• Include topics such as:
regulatory environment, risks
and opportunities, financial
expectations, and problem-
solving approaches.
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20. Community Engagement
• Coca-Cola:
– partnership with WWF to protect Yangtze River basin
– rainwater harvesting in 12 villages in NW China
– partnership with UNDP, MWR, MOFCOM, to improve
water access and sanitation
• Pepsi:
– grants on Safe Water and efficiency
– partnership with All China Women’s Federation on
safe drinking water
• Lots of interest (primarily from beverage
companies), but not much experience
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21. Main challenges to supply chain work
• Regulatory environment
• Limited NGO / civil society pressure
• Highly technical issue
• Long-term horizon often necessary for
investment – in most industries, neither
customer nor supplier have this
• Many of worst polluters are not in MNC top tier
supplier base
• Not a component of purchasing decisions
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22. Thank you!
Laura Ediger: lediger@bsr.org
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