Water is a shared resource — a global necessity, but on a management level, a local system.Pedro Sancha, the senior vice president of Nalco Water, an EcoLab company, discussed the challenges and opportunities of water stewardship in the era of climate change. “Companies need to look outside and collaborate with other users in the watershed. It needs to be context-based,” he said.
Fleet electrification leader and UPS senior project manager, Scott Phillippi, knows that the opportunities for electrification are endless.The space is ready, he says: “We’re on the cusp of getting there to where there are solutions, that are affordable and that make sense, and that can tie into good business reasons.” The technology is being developed quickly, and quick deployment is key for UPS. Phillippi is confident that others will follow.”We’re maybe on more of a plateau than a tipping point, but we need to push over that,” he said.
Today, water scarcity is so prevalent that many of our desired economic, social, and environmental goals are out of reach. If we continue to treat water as a disposable, consumable resource, a global crisis is imminent. But if we seize the circular economy opportunity – and leverage technology that already exists to drive better water management and stewardship – we can not only protect our single most important shared resource, we can ensure that businesses can grow to meet the increasing demands of the world for years to come.