A new approach
to valuing water
The status quo does not work
Water is critical to human wellbeing, ecosystems, and economic development. But it is chronically undervalued across the world.
The absence of accessible, high resolution data to inform decisions has contributed to acute under-investment in water security.
Public and private sector action to date has failed to adequately respond to the scale and urgency of the challenge.
31% of global GDP
equivalent to US$ 70 trillion, will be exposed to high water stress by 2050.
4 bn people
today experience severe water scarcity for at least one month each year.
US$37bn per developing country
is the estimated investment needed for water infrastructure in developing countries to be climate resilient by 2050.
Our solution
We develop decision-useful data to support investment and collective action for water security
Our outputs include accessible and uniquely high-resolution information for the public, private and financial services sectors.
We apply novel approaches to generate basin-specific data on water availability, quality, value, and access.
We seek to:
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Foster trust by providing transparent, accessible information
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Work at scale by leveraging innovations in remote sensing data, computer vision, and machine learning
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Help mobilise investment through a novel framework for valuing water within basins
Breaking the status quo
The narrative around water stewardship and collective action needs to change: away from disclosure and reporting (symptoms of the problem) and towards scalable solutions that deliver water security.
Our mission is to transform how water is valued and managed: towards a system that is environmentally, socially, and economically just and sustainable.
We focus on one hundred priority basins: all of which are economically significant, exposed to high water and biodiversity risk, and where collective action is urgently needed.
End users
Public sector
We provide basin authorities, regulators, local and central government officials, and utilities with information and data in a format that can be integrated into existing decision making processes. We are committed to supporting the public sector with capacity building to use the insights we provide.
Private sector
For companies operating water intensive assets and/or in basins exposed to high water risk, we provide a valuation framework at both basin- and asset-level scale. We also provide insights to support capacity building through bespoke consultancy via our partners.
Financial services sector
We empower financial institutions with “beyond regulatory” disclosure data, to include company, sector, and portfolio level assessments of double-materiality water risk; as well as insights that can inform fixed capital investment decisions.
Basin actors
Information and knowledge asymmetries amongst local basin actors are an impediment to collective action. We are committed to providing high-resolution data on key basin metrics at no charge to any qualifying stakeholder.
Our approach
We apply unique and proprietary insights to generate a water valuation framework that provides users from the public, private, and financial services sectors with decision-ready information to support collective action and mobilise investment.
We build partnerships with stakeholders in every basin where we work, and use these relationships to ensure that our insights are informed by both locally available data and context-specific Information.
We’re committed to making key basin data available at no charge to any qualifying stakeholder. This is part of our mission to reduce information asymmetry, foster community inclusion and build trust amongst basin actors.
The team leverages decades of applied work on water in academia, industry, and finance. Our approach is informed by direct involvement with ongoing water research programmes at the University of Oxford, UK.
Our process
Peer-reviewed research: Our process for collecting, validating, synthesising, and analysing data is consistent with the best available science.
Remote sensing: We leverage innovations in geospatial data, computer vision and machine learning for insight at scale.
In situ data: Our own Basin Specialists source and validate locally measured data as part of our ground truth activity.
Contextual information: We apply basin-specific societal, economic, regulatory, and environmental overlays to our data synthesis.
Proprietary insights: We analyse the synthesised data within our valuation framework to derive decision-ready insights for our end users.
Our value proposition
We generate decision-ready insights across three vectors: water availability; water quality; and access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
Our valuation framework will initially focus on water availability, broadening to incorporate quality and access as we scope and develop these areas, in consultation with end users and partners.
We consider our value proposition to be unique in that our approach systematically integrates remote sensing, in-situ data and contextual information to derive proprietary insights. These are synthesised with third party data (such as estimates of the basin-scale investments needed to achieve water security) within our valuation framework.
Our values
Transparency
In our approach, method, process, analysis, and outputs
Openness
In our engagement with end users, partners, advisors and other stakeholders
Humility
We stand on the shoulders of those who have worked in this area for decades
Focus
Small teams can achieve big things if they know what they want to do, and do it well
Impatience
When it comes to addressing water insecurity, time is not on our side
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