Green business alliance the Global Environmental Management Initiative has launched free sustainable water management tools the GEMI Local Water Tool and the GEMI LWT for Oil and Gas.
The tools aim to provide best practices and water risk assessment for sustainable water management at the global, regional, national and local levels, GEMI says.
GEMI LWT – and its oil and gas industry-specific sister tool – aim to help companies assess external impacts, business risks and opportunities, and manage water-related issues, at specific sites. The tools also provide a common and consistent visualization platform for internal and external communication, GEMI says.
Both tools were developed in cooperation with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the oil and gas industry’s environmental association IPIECA. They link to, and are compatible with, the WBCSD Global Water Tool and the IPIECA GWT for Oil and Gas.
GEMI, whose members include Johnson & Johnson, ConocoPhillips, Dupont, FedEx and other major multinationals, announced the tools’ development in March last year. The free tools can be downloaded from the GEMI web site.
In other news, Veolia Water has developed the Water Impact Index to measure the effects business practices have on water resources and the environment. Veolia says as well as incorporating factors such as resource stress and water quality, the index provides a better way to establish the implications of water management.
Veolia first used the Water Impact Index in Milwaukee where it conducted what it says is the first-ever simultaneous analysis of water and carbon on a major urban area’s water cycle. Details of the project are available in a white paper.
