Freshwater is essential for life on earth, yet nearly two billion people face severe water scarcity, and 85% of freshwater species populations have declined since 1970 (LPR 2024). Despite its importance, freshwater is threatened by overdevelopment, pollution, and climate change, making water crises a major risk to both human communities and the global economy. 

Since 2014, the WWF and IKEA partnership has been working together on water issues, using the Water Stewardship approach. Water Stewardship is a holistic approach for companies to act on water risks and water impacts through stakeholder engagement, better management and governance influence with the objective of supporting the protection of shared water resources, biodiversity, and ecosystems.

WWF and IKEA have agreed on a partnership focused on water security across the IKEA supply chain and beyond. The partnership is built around concrete actions in priority basins**, including efforts to improve supply chain water management and support restoration of wetlands and freshwater ecosystems. These efforts are designed to support freshwater biodiversity and the habitats of key species such as migratory waterbirds.”

**Yellow Sea and East China Sea Basin, China and Noyyal-Bhavani River Basin, India