Who we are

The Asia Water Project: China is a non-profit initiative designed to help investors and business understand and manage China’s water risks.

AWP’s web portal, launched in February 2010, offers access to relevant information on water issues, as well as showcases AWP’s own commissioned research.

AWP works closely with a growing network of water and industry experts and investors from China and Hong Kong as well as with others based internationally. Our network shares an interest in building knowledge that will lead to action to enhance the management of China’s water resources.

The project is currently managed by the ADM Capital Foundation and was developed in collaboration with its founding partners, Civic Exchange, the Association for Social and Responsible Investing in Asia (with support from the Sigrid Rausing Trust), Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), and Responsible Research.

History

In 2007, Beijing’s Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) launched its online water database. Allowing public access to water quality and pollution data, including corporate regulatory breaches, the site was designed to facilitate transparency and encourage disclosure on an issue affecting millions of Chinese. Given the lack of consolidated corporate information, data and relevant metrics on China’s water crisis, considerable value could be gained from translating IPE’s data for a broader audience, specifically targeting both investors and companies.

Early in 2008, IPE began translating key water data on its site from Chinese to English. Building on this, in June of that year, a group of Hong Kong and China-based organisations came together with a common focus on China’s water crisis; that being how it affects investors and companies and what is needed to better manage water-related risks. It was determined that a useful next step would be to develop a comprehensive information Portal, which would consolidate and draw on existing resources, including IPE’s databases, new research where needed, and provide a platform from which to advance issues.

By July 2009, the project concept had been developed and was formalised into The Asia Water Project. Although the initial focus is on China, it is hoped that AWP can expand to cover other regions in the longer term.