Water Stewardship: Engaging Business, Civil Society and Government in Collaborative Solutions to China’s Freshwater Challenges

It is well documented that China faces massive water challenges relating to both scarcity and pollution following decades of industrial development. As the country embarks on a path of balancing economic growth and environmental management in building an ecological civilisation, where do non-state actors fit and how do they contribute to resolving these challenges? In this chapter, Michael Spencer and Zhen Zhen Xu discuss their experience building and engaging government, industry and civil society in a non-state water stewardship program. The Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) is itself only a relatively new global program that seeks to engage industry in good water stewardship. China has been one of its most successful areas of work. This chapter provides a context for the global development of AWS and the national context for water stewardship in China before drawing on new research to understand motivations and constraints for industry participation.