Managing the world's liquid asset - water

TWO key events are taking place in Singapore this week. First is the Water Leaders' Summit within the context of the Singapore International Water Week, and the second is a CNBC discussion on Future of World's Water: A Business Perspective. Both events will explore in depth the role that business can play in managing global water resources. Senior officers from the world's largest corporations and leading academic figures will also discuss interlinkages between business and water.

The global business community has faced substantial stress and challenges during the post-2000 period. Among these are investor demands for sustainable investments, resource scarcities, increasing scrutiny by media and social activists about malpractices, real or perceived, and continuing technological and management evolutions.

These developments have heralded a new era for corporate sustainability reporting where businesses explain impacts of their operational practices on society, natural resources and environment. While sustainability reporting has mostly been voluntary, increasing scrutiny and pressure from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), media and governments, have encouraged the companies to assess and often publicly divulge the impacts, both positive and negative, of their activities on profitability and on society, natural resources and environment.