S Group, the Coop Trading sourcing company used by Nordic cooperative retail companies, and three other European retail groups are working with the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) to participate in a pilot project on sustainable water use. The project, the AWS Impact Accelerator, will be carried out in the Huelva and Doñana regions of Spain, which are suffering from a critical water situation.

Spain is one of the most important countries in European fruit and vegetable production, as well as an important sourcing country for S Group’s fruit and vegetables. With a focus on fruit and berry producers, the goal of the project is to increase cooperation between the food producers and food chain operators in the area, as well as to improve their understanding of actions that affect their shared water resources and find solutions for water challenges.

“The products we buy have an impact on the local nature and people. Impacts on nature are always local, and their mitigation requires joint action in the same geographical region. We want to take part in developing new kinds of cooperation models,” says Nina Elomaa, S Group’s Senior Vice President, Sustainability.

. S Group has developed its water stewardship work, charted its water risks and emphasised the importance of sustainable water use as a key factor for the well-being of the environment and people. S Group joined AWS last year, a membership-based alliance of business, NGOs and government actors that operates at the cutting edge of water stewardship

“This AWS Impact Accelerator brings together retailers and fruit and berry producers in the Huelva province of Spain to build knowledge and understanding, develop skills and foster a network to work collectively towards water stewardship. The collaborative nature of the programme will help producers work together to solve shared water challenges. We thank S Group and other European retailers for their leadership in committing to this work,” says Scott McCready, Chief Strategy Officer at AWS.

Project seeking the root causes of water challenges – shared data

For S Group, the AWS Impact Accelerator is an opportunity to work with other European retailers to launch water stewardship work throughout the chain and to identify the necessary corrective measures.

The project will first study the condition of the catchment area and the root causes of water challenges. It includes training events for farms, and all participants will also receive a farm-specific analysis to help them identify water stewardship measures that could be adopted.

Sustainable water use has become a key theme in corporate sustainability work

It is important to develop water stewardship approaches now. Upcoming EU legislation will also require companies to take more responsibility for the human rights and environmental impacts of their own supply chain, as well as water issues to be considered in procurement chains. S Group wants to participate in conducting pilot testing for new operational models.

Climate change and biodiversity loss have an impact on the availability of food and the living conditions of the local population. The droughts and flooding affecting some regions have become more frequent, intense and severe than in previous years. Managing impacts on the climate and nature is part of securing the future production of food, as well as managing operational and financial risks.

S Group has previously completed an assessment of its natural footprint in a pioneering joint study by the University of Jyväskylä, Sitra and S Group. Food products account for most of the retail group’s natural footprint. About 80% of the food sold by S Group is produced in Finland. However, the most significant impacts on nature take place outside Finland.

Impact Accelerator project

- The AWS Impact Accelerator is a collective, place-based approach to water stewardship.

- The Spain project brings together sites in Huelva and the area surrounding Doñana National Park. This area has been chosen because of the convergence of high agricultural productivity and increasingly high-water risk.

- To learn more about the AWS Impact Accelerator visit AWS Impact Accelerator - Alliance for Water Stewardship (a4ws.org/impact-accelerator)