Marking World Environment Day 2026 and its theme, “Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For our Future,” the June 2026 edition of Outlook Business carries a special supplement on Water Credits: Securing Business, Sustaining Futures, spotlighting the growing importance of water stewardship and innovative approaches to sustainable water management in India. Developed through a collaboration between TERI, as the Knowledge Partner, and Bisleri International, as the Water Stewardship Partner, the supplement explores how science-based frameworks, industry action, and policy innovation can come together to address one of the most pressing sustainability challenges of our time – water security.
As highlighted by Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI and Chancellor, TERI School of Advanced Studies (TERI SAS), water stress is among the clearest signals of climate disruption. Addressing this challenge requires collaboration between industry, academia, and media to translate knowledge into action and build pathways towards a more resilient future.
The special supplement examines the emerging concept of water credits as a market-based mechanism to incentivize water conservation, replenishment, efficiency, and responsible resource management. It brings together research insights, implementation experiences, and policy perspectives to explore how businesses can move beyond compliance and embed water stewardship into their long-term growth and resilience strategies.
A central feature of the publication is the work undertaken by the Institute for Circular Water Management and Research (ICWMR), TERI SAS, in collaboration with Bisleri International. The supplement highlights the development of an impact-adjusted water footprint framework that incorporates local hydrological conditions into water-use assessments, creating a scientific foundation for evaluating conservation outcomes and enabling future water credit systems.
The publication further explores India’s water challenges, the role of water footprinting in decision-making, policy developments such as the Green Credit Programme and Ecomark, industrial water stewardship practices, watershed restoration initiatives, and the opportunities and challenges associated with water trading and water credits. It also showcases examples of on-ground interventions that contribute to ground water recharge, water conservation, and community resilience.
By featuring this industry-academia partnership, Outlook Business underscores the growing recognition that sustainable water management requires collective action. The TERI-Bisleri collaboration demonstrates how research, innovation, and practical implementation can help lay the foundation for credible and scalable frameworks that support water-use efficiency, strengthen business resilience, and contribute to long-term water security.
As India advances towards a climate-resilient and resource-efficient future, such collaborations will be essential in transforming sustainability commitments into measurable action and impact.