#WorldWaterDay 22 March 2026: Where water flows, equality grows
By Dewi Thomas, CEO, Employee Volunteering
Look out, water is rising up the agenda
In my 20+ years of business, I’ve noticed water rarely features in mainstream business conversation unless something goes wrong. A drought, a flood, a pollution incident or a supply issue tends to be what brings it into focus.
Outside of those moments, it has largely been taken for granted. But that is changing, and fast.
Recent global reporting points to a global water crisis.
The United Nations has described the world as entering a period of “global water bankruptcy”, where demand is outpacing the ability of natural systems to replenish supply (UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, 2026).
The World Economic Forum continues to rank water scarcity among the most significant global risks, reflecting pressure from agriculture, industry and population growth (World Economic Forum Global Risks Report, 2026).
Around half of the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity for at least part of the year, and close to three quarters now live in water-insecure countries (UN Water, 2026). Even in the UK, often associated with steady rainfall, the outlook is tightening.
Current projections suggest England could face a shortfall of nearly five billion litres of water a day by 2050, as demand begins to outstrip sustainable supply (House of Commons Library, 2025).
You can start to understand why water is no longer a distant issue, the crisis is showing up much closer to home.
Why this matters more than it first appears
What is becoming clearer is how far this reaches. Water sits behind food production, energy, manufacturing and public health. When supply becomes less predictable, the effects move quickly into areas that businesses and communities feel directly. You see it in supply chains, in pricing and in economic stability. In some regions, it is also becoming the main source of tension where water systems are shared.
Climate change is intensifying that pressure. Rainfall patterns are shifting, droughts are lasting longer and flooding is becoming more severe (IPCC, 2024). Agriculture, which accounts for around 70 percent of global freshwater use, is particularly exposed, making the knock-on effects on food systems increasingly visible (FAO, 2025).
At the same time, the issue is not only about availability. Water quality matters just as much. Around 80 percent of wastewater globally is released without adequate treatment, reducing the amount of usable water available (UN Water / UNESCO, 2025). The impact is immediate, felt in communities, in health outcomes and in local economies.
Taken together, pressures on availability, quality, access and cost are building at scale. What was once treated as a background utility is becoming something that needs to be actively understood and managed.
Water, business and growing responsibility
In business you’ll start to see water moving firmly onto the agenda.
It is becoming an operational and financial consideration, shaped by supply risk, tighter regulation and rising costs. It also sits more clearly within ESG expectations, particularly around water stewardship and contribution to UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation (United Nations, 2025).
Newer pressures are emerging as well. The growth of AI and data infrastructure is increasing demand for water-intensive cooling, with some data centres using millions of gallons of water per day (industry estimates, 2025–2026). At the same time, investors and regulators are placing greater scrutiny on how organisations manage shared water resources.
I’m not intending to create alarm, but do want to recognise this shift. Water is starting to influence how organisations operate, where they operate and how resilient they are over time.
World Water Day: where water flows, equality grows
The theme for World Water Day 2026 is water and gender.
In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Middle East, where water access is often unreliable or distant, it’s typically women and girls who carry the responsibility for collecting it. And that shapes daily life in very practical ways, affecting time, education and economic opportunity.
Women and girls spend around 250 million hours every day collecting water (UN Women and UNDESA, 2024). More than one billion women still lack access to safely managed drinking water (UN Women, 2025).
It also introduces direct health risks. Unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene contribute to around 1,000 deaths per day among children under five (World Health Organization, 2025). The burden of managing these risks again falls disproportionately on women and girls.
Improving water systems in these contexts isn’t just about infrastructure, it’s about changing life chances.
Making the issue real through experience
For many of us in the UK and Europe, the global water crisis can still feel distant. Something you read about, rather than something you experience.
But the reality is more connected than that. In some parts of the world, water defines daily life. Closer to home, the pressure shows up through water quality, ageing infrastructure and future supply risk. Both are part of the same global water system.
In my experience, it’s only when people see it first hand that their perspective really changes. Stand beside a river and see what debris has accumulated there, and the conversation changes. Test water quality and understand what is actually present, and it becomes more immediate. Take part in restoring a habitat that protects and filters water, and it starts to feel real.
That is often the moment when understanding turns into action.
Where corporate volunteering plays a role
This is where corporate volunteering has real value. Not, of course, as a solution to the global water crisis, but as a practical way to engage with it.
Done well, corporate volunteering helps people understand what is changing, why it matters and where they can contribute. It connects employees directly with organisations working on water access, sanitation and environmental protection, both locally and globally.
A few employee volunteering approaches consistently stand out for me:
Local environmental volunteering activity, such as river restoration, wetland creation and water testing, brings immediate visibility to water quality and biodiversity, while contributing to longer-term improvement.
Skills-based volunteering creates deeper impact by applying professional expertise in areas such as strategy, digital or fundraising, helping charities scale their work.
Education-led volunteering experiences help shift behaviour, from understanding water use to recognising the hidden water behind everyday products.
Micro-volunteering is becoming increasingly important. Small, digitally enabled actions, from reporting local water conditions through simple apps to mapping pollution hotspots or taking part in short challenges to reduce water use at home, can create significant impact when scaled across a workforce.
And some of the most powerful volunteering programmes connect local activity with global challenges, helping people see how the two are linked and where their contribution fits. That might mean pairing a UK river clean-up with a live session from a water charity working in sub-Saharan Africa, or combining wetland restoration with a discussion on how water scarcity affects food production and supply chains globally. It’s in those moments that the connection really starts to land.
The difference between a good experience and something that really makes a difference usually comes down to how the corporate volunteering programme is designed. The strongest programmes are built with the right partners, focused on real needs and set up to create lasting impact.
A moment that calls for action
World Water Day may appear as just another date in the calendar, but in reality it’s anything but.
This is an important reminder that water is becoming one of the defining challenges of our time, shaping health, economies and stability in ways that are increasingly visible, including here in the UK.
This is not about standing back and observing, it’s about stepping forward and deciding how to respond.
For businesses, that means playing a practical and meaningful role. Helping people understand what is changing, connecting them to the issue and creating opportunities to contribute in ways that genuinely matter. When people see something for themselves, they do not tend to stay on the sidelines.
We are already working with organisations that are turning this into action, bringing water into focus across their workforce and connecting people to real-world impact, both locally and globally.
If this is something you are starting to think about, or feel should be higher on the agenda, it is worth a conversation.
Water: 10 facts worth knowing
- Around half of the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity for part of the year (UN Water, 2026)
- Nearly three quarters of people now live in water-insecure countries (UN Water, 2026)
- England could face a daily shortfall of nearly 5 billion litres of water by 2050 (House of Commons Library, 2025)
- Over 2 billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water (WHO and UNICEF, 2025)
- Women and girls spend around 250 million hours every day collecting water (UN Women, 2024)
- Around 80 percent of wastewater globally is released without adequate treatment (UN Water, 2025)
- Agriculture uses around 70 percent of global freshwater withdrawals (FAO, 2025)
- Producing 1 kilogram of beef can require around 15,000 litres of water (Water Footprint Network, 2025)
- Data centres use millions of gallons of water daily for cooling (2025 estimates)
- The water you drink today may include molecules that existed millions of years ago, recycled through the Earth’s water cycle (NASA, 2025)
FAQs
What is employee volunteering and how does it work?
Employee volunteering, or corporate volunteering, is when businesses enable their employees to give time, skills or expertise to support charities and community organisations.
Corporate volunteering can take many forms, including team volunteering days, skills-based projects, virtual volunteering and micro-volunteering activities. Programmes are typically aligned to social and environmental priorities, such as education, health or environmental sustainability.
At Employee Volunteering, programmes are designed end-to-end. That includes identifying the right charity partners, creating meaningful opportunities, managing logistics and ensuring activities deliver real impact for both communities and employees. Impact reporting and materials for storytelling are also included.
Why do companies invest in employee volunteering programmes?
Companies invest in employee or corporate volunteering because it delivers value across multiple areas of the business.
It strengthens employee engagement and retention, supports workplace wellbeing, and helps people feel more connected to the organisation’s purpose. It also builds skills, particularly leadership, teamwork and problem solving, in real-world settings.
From a business perspective, employee volunteering supports ESG commitments, contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals, and demonstrates a visible commitment to social impact.
When done well, it is not just a “nice to have”, it becomes part of how organisations build culture, develop people and contribute to society.
What is Facilitated employee volunteering?
Facilitated employee volunteering, also known as corporate volunteering and employer supported volunteering, refers to programmes that are professionally designed, managed and delivered with a trained Facilitator to guide the event.
This includes sourcing credible charity partners, structuring activities around real community needs, managing risk and safety, and ensuring the experience is engaging and well-run for employees with trained Facilitators at both in person and virtual events.
Employee Volunteering specialises in Facilitator-led volunteering, helping organisations deliver more engaging experiences and achieve stronger, measurable impact.
How can businesses set up a successful employee volunteering programme?
A successful employee volunteering programme starts with clear volunteering objectives and strong programme design.
Key elements include:
- aligning volunteering activity with business priorities and ESG goals
- partnering with trusted charities that understand local or global needs
- offering a mix of opportunities, including team-based, skills-based and flexible options
- making participation easy and accessible for employees
- measuring impact, both for communities and for the organisation
Working with an experienced partner such as Employee Volunteering helps ensure programmes are structured, scalable and meaningful, rather than ad hoc or purely symbolic.
