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Water, the Other Pillar of Climate Action — KoSIF Joins the Water Positive Alliance

Water, Another Pillar of Climate Action — KoSIF Joins the Water Positive Alliance

The Water Positive Alliance was launched on March 21 at KINTEX in Ilsan, at a ceremony hosted by the Ministry of Environment and the Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water).

The alliance builds on a memorandum of understanding that the Ministry of Environment signed in March 2024 with the CDP Korea Committee, Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, LG Electronics, POSCO, and Naver. It marks a significant step forward in public-private cooperation — both in responding to the water crises that climate change is bringing and in keeping pace with the international move toward sustainable water management. The Korea Sustainability Investing Forum (KoSIF) is part of this important collaboration as CDP's partner in Korea and as secretariat of the CDP Korea Committee.

Amorepacific, Pulmuone, and Coca-Cola Korea came on board as new members at the ceremony.

Launch ceremony of the Water Positive Alliance (Photo: Ministry of Environment)

     Why "Water Positive" Matters

Water positive is a sustainable water management strategy under which a company returns more water to nature than it uses.

It goes a step beyond simple conservation, contributing to the water cycle in concrete ways: by making better use of water inside the company, by reusing treated sewage and wastewater, and by improving watershed water quality and securing water resources. The strategy matters all the more given the instability that climate change brings to water supply, and the rising water demand of advanced industries such as semiconductors and batteries.

     Why the Alliance Was Formed, and KoSIF's Role

The launch amounts to a declaration that the private and public sectors will recognize climate-driven water risk together and build a working system for responding to it. The alliance is also drawing up plans to identify long- and short-term projects tailored to companies' needs, sign agreements with those companies, and then carry the projects out. In a press release, the Ministry of Environment and K-water said that, with the launch as a starting point, they plan to “identify tailored watershed water quality improvement projects and, alongside them, prepare incentives for participating companies.”

A consultative body bringing together the private sector, government, and public institutions to raise awareness of climate-driven water risk and strengthen joint responses, with cooperation measures developed in phases (Ministry of Environment press release)

As secretariat of the CDP Korea Committee, KoSIF is helping Korean companies with water-related disclosure and working to spread sustainable water management practices that meet international standards.

     CDP Water Security

CDP has spent the past 20 years building a global information platform for water security. As of 2024, some 24,800 companies — two-thirds of global market capitalization — disclose environmental data through CDP, and about 9,600 of them report to CDP Water Security, transparently disclosing their water risks, management strategies, and targets.

The number of participating companies is rising quickly in Korea as well. In 2024, 277 Korean companies responded to CDP Water Security, a 105% increase on the previous year — a figure that reflects shifting awareness and growing interest among Korean companies. Compared with global leaders, though, water management in Korea still has ground to make up.

Infographic: Commemorating World Water Day — the risks facing Korean companies in an era of water scarcity (2024 CDP Water Security) View related content

Speaking at the reception, Karl Chun Seung Yang, Executive Director of KoSIF, said: “With this launch, the CDP Korea Committee will actively support data standardization, disclosure assistance, and links to international initiatives, so that Korean companies can build water disclosure capability at a global level and extend the scope of what they manage across their supply chains, toward restoring the water cycle.”

     Sustainable Water Management: Where the World Stands

The world is entering a full-scale water crisis under the twin pressures of climate change and industrialization. International organizations including the UN and the OECD warn that demand for water keeps rising while the reliability of supply is under serious threat — from the uncertainty that climate change introduces into precipitation patterns, from aging infrastructure, and from imbalances in water between regions. Against that backdrop, the international community is looking for a strategic shift toward sustainable water management, and several global water management strategies are emerging.

Global Initiative Trends for Sustainable Water Management (Ministry of Environment press release)

These strategies differ in approach, but each puts water sustainability at the center, and through them the international community is accelerating its response to the climate crisis while reducing social, economic, and environmental risks at the same time. Among them, water positive is spreading fastest: company-led and grounded in international disclosure, it is taking hold through CDP as the standard of responsible water management that the international community expects.

Responding to the climate crisis is no longer a climate question alone. Water is a matter of survival, and in the ESG era it is a core resource that corporate responsibility has to focus on. As secretariat of the CDP Korea Committee, KoSIF is leading the effort to widen a disclosure system built on trust, so that companies can manage water in practice and have their results disclosed and assessed internationally.

KoSIF will continue to take an active part in the journey toward a sustainable water transition, working alongside companies, government, and civil society.