Tech giant Google announced today the launch of a new water stewardship ambition, aiming to become water positive by 2030, with a commitment to replenish more water than it consumes, and to support water security and ecosystems in the communities in which the company operates.
According to Google, the company’s main water uses include cooling its data centers, in its offices and campuses around the world, and in its value chain including the manufacturing of its hardware products and data center equipment. The new commitments will see the company aim to replenish 120% of the water consumed at its offices and data centers, and to help restore and improve the quality of water and health in its communities, with a particular focus in water-scarce areas.
In order to achieve its goal, the company outlined three key areas of activity. Theses include advancing responsible water use, enhancing the company’s stewardship of water resources across office campuses and data centers; benefitting watershed and communities, through collaborations to replenish water use and improve watershed health while supporting ecosystems and water-stressed communities, and; supporting water security with technology, including sharing technology and tools to enable the prediction, prevention and recovery from water stress.
One of the tech-driven solutions the company highlighted with the announcement of its water stewardship goals is the funding of the development of Global Water Watch, a platform being developed by Stichting Deltares Institute, WRI, and WWF, aimed at democratizing information on water resources, using world-wide, high-resolution, and real-time water information to provide indicators for balancing water equally across society and sectors as well as managing climate change induced floods and droughts.
Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Google, said:
“When it comes to protecting the future of our planet and the resources we rely on, there’s a lot to be done. We’ll keep looking for ways we can use our products and expertise to be good water stewards and partner with others to address these critical and shared water challenges.”
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