CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN WATER MANAGEMENT: A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY FOR PROVIDING WATER ACCESS FOR ALL

Water is essential for life. The visible effects of climate change and the impact of a growing global population and its consumptive tendencies are creating water stress. There is a growing a dire need for effective corporate governance for sustainable water management. This paper explores the application of best practices principles of corporate governance in the context of use of water in households, industrial operations, and agricultural production. The paper calls stakeholders managing a shared destiny around water to exhibit greater public and private corporate responsibility towards securing efficient and sustainable water supply, highlights agriculture’s role in future food security, and makes a case for mobilizing private sector financing, technological innovation, and public–private partnerships (PPPs). There is clearly a need for a coordinated action among governments, corporations, and civil society to govern water as a shared resource. Lessons from recent literature have been drawn to illustrate how governance structures, stakeholder engagement, and financial mechanisms can foster resilient and equitable water systems.