Water-nomics & Trade-offs

This year’s World Water Week was all about water & development. This month we summarise our key takeaways from Stockholm on water & the SDGs to the need for more “unsiloing” action and delve into some points covered in the newly released HSBC’s “No Water, More Trade-off: managing growth with limited water”. We cover China water-nomics whilst HSBC’s Wai-Shin Chan expands on trade-offs and warns that cotton & coal could be heading for a clash in the North China Plain given China’s need to balance water, food and energy security. With tough trade-offs in the horizon, we look at the fashion industry’s exposure outside of cotton and find that a large portion (32% – 75%) of global hides, wool, chemical fibres and silk are either produced in or passed through China via imports. At these levels, risks are a plenty. Should brands move manufacturing out of China or should they stay and help factories meet the new Water Ten Plan? Onwards to more action: start by incorporating the environment into business – Flavia Micilotta expands on the Foreign Trade Association’s latest environmental performance initiative. The fashion industry’s actions in water was also covered by the GLASA Awards. China Water Risk, although nominated as a finalist for the award did not win, but we came away with some takeaways from the award ceremony. Heartfelt congratulations to the winner, Pratibha Syntex!