Core SDG
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
2. Deliver solutions for the global water and sanitation crisis
Today, 1.42 billion people – including 450 million children – live in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability. Climate mitigation failure could lead to more extreme weather events, ecosystem collapse and a greater likelihood of environmental disasters. All these risks are interconnected and can lead to increased water scarcity and insecurity. Water quality can often be compromised by poor management of infrastructure, pollution incidents and increased consumption patterns. As global supply and demand for water intensifies, solving the world’s most complex water challenges demands different thinking.
What we’re focused on
We are committed to working with a ‘OneWater’ mindset – viewing all water as a valuable resource, recognizing that all water challenges are interconnected, and collaboratively developing water solutions that are sustainable, inclusive and equitable. Our OneWater approach includes:
- Advancing modern sanitation to ensure community access to clean water supplies and a healthy environment
- Securing reliable, operation-critical water supplies
- Protecting the world’s water resources
- Enhancing infrastructure and asset resilience
» Target
Expand water equity in water-stressed regions through existing and new partnerships by 2025
What comes next
- Increase our collective understanding of water equity and identify water equity champions across all regions.
- Continue our strategic partnership with Water for People, focused on developing world water infrastructure programs.
- Expand our OneWater approach to all solutions and not solely on water projects.
- Ensure that workers employed on our projects and sites have access to clean, safe and hygienic sources of water.
- Aim higher to ensure that water usage within our offices is managed efficiently.
We deliver projects across the entire water cycle focused on balancing social, economic and environmental priorities. For example, Jacobs is providing its expertise to the California WaterFix program designed to bolster the reliability of the state’s water supplies, while protecting and enhancing the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary, a vital environmental asset. We are also working with Melbourne Water to integrate the SDGs into their business processes.