Grounding Global Water Risk Assessments in Local Data

This case study examines Unilever's approach to grounding global water risk assessments in local data. While using the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas for initial screening across 300+ sites in 100 countries, Unilever validates results with local facility managers to correct discrepancies. The document highlights how global models can overestimate risk in the Great Lakes region due to unmodeled human engineering, or underestimate risk in São Paulo, Brazil, by ignoring water quality degradation and local transfers. The study concludes that global data should serve as a starting point, supplemented by documented local feedback and iterative reviews to ensure effective water stewardship.

• Unilever utilizes a two-step process for water risk assessment across more than 300 production sites, offices, and warehouses in 100 countries. The company first uses the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas for global benchmarking and screening to avoid data quality issues and scarcity, then validates these results through feedback from facility managers and expert consultants for sites in high-risk sub-basins.
• Global water risk models like Aqueduct can overestimate water stress in areas where human engineering and water management are not captured in the data. For example, in the Great Lakes region of North America, Aqueduct reported high water stress because it models water outflow through natural drainage networks rather than human-made intake points, leading Unilever to remove a facility from its prioritization exercise after local validation.
• Global models may underestimate water stress by failing to account for local water quality issues and human-led water transfers. In a sub-basin near São Paulo, Brazil, local managers reported water shortages and the need to truck in water despite Aqueduct's low stress result; this was attributed to poor water quality caused by the loss of over three-quarters of the forest in the headwaters and unmodeled water transfers to the city.

APA

World Resources Institute (2025). Grounding Global Water Risk Assessments in Local Data. https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/grounding-global-water-risk-assessments-local-data

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Grounding Global Water Risk Assessments in Local Data. 2025. https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/grounding-global-water-risk-assessments-local-data.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Grounding Global Water Risk Assessments in Local Data |date=10 July 2025 |url=https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/grounding-global-water-risk-assessments-local-data |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2025grounding, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Grounding Global Water Risk Assessments in Local Data}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/grounding-global-water-risk-assessments-local-data}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }