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1. 

   Collective action, corporate action: what works in water stewardship?

   Opinion - Articles and blogs - 9 September 2013

   ​Natural resources, and their management, have seen a surge in corporate interest that seems unlikely to slacken. There has been a mushrooming of water initiatives involving the private sector under the banner of water stewardship, which claim to address shared risks through the combined effort of business, government and civil society.

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2. 

   Uncertain frontiers: mapping new corporate engagement in water security

   Publication - Discussion papers - 4 January 2013

   ODI Working Papers 363

   Nathaniel Mason

   New forms of engagement by large multinational corporations around water appear to stray into the historically public-sector domain of water resources management. This ODI Working Paper takes a critical look at these initiatives, and reviews both the opportunities and challenges in terms of transparency, equity, accountability and sustainability.

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3. 

   Private sector investment in water management: company forms and partnership models for inclusive development

   Publication - Briefing papers - 17 December 2012

   ODI Briefings 78

   Peter Newborne

   This ODI Briefing Paper discusses the key role of private companies in reducing water use in their own plants and premises and in their supply chains.

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   The private sector’s contribution to water management: re-examining corporate purposes and company roles

   Publication - Journal articles or issues - 9 October 2012

   Water Alternatives Volume 5, Issue 3, Pages 603-618

   Peter Newborne and Nathaniel Mason

   Corporate water policies are evolving and practices developing, raising issues of what are appropriate private-sector roles in water management. Leaders of multinational companies have pledged to increase water use efficiencies in company plants/premises and down supply chains, while promoting partnerships in water management with a range of actors, public and private, including local communities. A set of questions is, here, posed for consideration by governments and communities, on the extent, limits and implications of private-sector involvement, particularly in contexts of water scarcity.

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5. 

   Roles of companies in water management - extending the boundaries of private sector responsibility?

   Publication - Discussion papers - 23 May 2012

   Peter Newborne

   This paper reviews the policies and practices of companies in water use and water management, and considers how they manifest an evolution of private sector roles, through examples of innovation by companies in sectors that make significant use of water: beverages/drinks, tourism, and mining and energy - with agriculture also considered in two respects.

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6. Private sector and water management

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   Private companies for whom water is a key input are increasingly taking an interest in water management beyond the factory fence.

   Water ‘security’ in many developing countries – the argument goes – will depend on businesses’ contributions, at catchment/basin levels and above, including involvement in activities that were previously the sole responsibility of public water authorities. For this, new ways of working are proposed and new and adapted concepts are emerging.

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