Nature & Water Stewardship
working toward a nature-positive future by supporting industry goals to operate in harmony with the environment, preserve biodiversity, and restore natural ecosystems.
Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) brings together automakers and suppliers to advance collaborative strategies that support nature and protect water resources across the automotive value chain. Recognizing the increasing importance of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and water availability to sustainable operations, SP members are working on approaches to integrate nature-based considerations into their strategies and supply chains.
Through SP’s Nature-Based Solutions work group, members are working to build a common understanding of nature-related terminology and identify practical opportunities to support actions that provide positive environmental outcomes for both business and biodiversity.
In parallel, SP’s Water Stewardship work group brings companies together to develop and share tools, practices, and case studies to support advancing water stewardship leading practices across the value chain. These efforts aim to foster scalable, replicable solutions that benefit both industry and the environment.
Whether your company is looking to identify and evaluate nature-related priorities, improve local water stewardship, or explore opportunities for collaborative engagement around shared impacts, SP offers a platform to learn from peers, share best practices, and collaborate on meaningful, cross-industry actions.
Featured Resources
Nature-Related Terms & Definitions
Industry-supported guidance to raise awareness of key nature-related terms.
Nature Based Solutions Case Studies
Case studies on Nature-based Solutions to Prevent Pollution and Support Biodiversity.
Nature Based Solutions Options & Decision Tree
Outlines 17 nature-based solutions along with a decision tree to evaluate options.
Core Water Metrics Guidance
Outlines a common set of recommended water-related metrics and definitions.
Water Stewardship Strategy Framework
Outlines strategic framework and industry-driven water stewardship ambition.
Water Stewardship Action Matrix
Intended as a first step in helping automotive companies build water stewardship programs.
Featured News
WHC and SP Release Pollution Prevention Resources for Auto Industry, Supported by the US EPA
Automakers and suppliers work together to support over 2400 acres of pollinator habitat across their operations
Member & Partner Quotes
“As automakers and suppliers come together to promote voluntary conservation programs across our respective lands we have a unique opportunity to create a connected corridor of wildlife habitat spanning our individual operations and provide meaningful new habitat for pollinators and other migratory species, particularly considering the position and scale of our industry’s manufacturing footprint in North America.” – Kevin Butt, Senior Director, Environmental Sustainability, Toyota Motor North America.
“The use of NbS is of increasing interest to corporations and these solutions are not only well-suited to prevent pollution, but they also uplift biodiversity and promote community well-being. With our partner SP, we are proud to support automakers in their nature-positive journey by offering a host of tools that provide digestible and useful information about NbS.” — Margaret O’Gorman, President, Wildlife Habitat Council.
“When applied to many organizations across a sector, like the automotive sector, enterprise-wide water stewardship concepts can help inform the actions and ambitions for each company therein. Building on the key concepts of water stewardship, this sectoral water strategy framework demonstrates SP’s leadership while guiding companies toward collective action as each seeks to identify and mitigate water-related risks and address key challenges and opportunities shared across the sector.” — Matt Howard, Vice President, Water Stewardship at The Water Council
“Lear has a long-standing commitment to the responsible consumption and management of water and wastewater discharges throughout our global operations. Participating in the SP Water Stewardship Work Group and pilot program at two Lear operations in Mexico has provided us with valuable insights that we will be implementing into our corporate water strategy going forward.” — Harry Kemp, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and ESG Lead at Lear Corp.