Our planet contains less than 3 percent of fresh water and much of it is in glaciers, icecaps or deep in the earth which cannot be reached. Over the years, the fresh water availability has depleted leading towards establishing water projects that have the potential to degrade the natural environment and destroy human and animal habitats. The global effort in mainstreaming sustainability has led to innovation in every sector including water. These approaches include but not limited to rehabilitation and rejuvenation of existing water bodies, promotion of wastewater treatment and reuse, developing an understanding of the existing water use patterns in industries and urban local bodies through water audits and implement corrective measures, encouraging rain-water harvesting to improve the availability of adequate quantity and good-quality water at the user-level and increasing water-use efficiency in irrigation systems.

Recently, Gold Standard Foundation, Switzerland has launched the Water Quality Certificate Standard that calls for corporates and public utilities to benchmark their water consumption and conservation practices against the best in the sector and secure registration under the Gold Standard Water Benefit Standard to secure Water Benefit Certificates that can be traded in an emerging water-credits trading market.