The Next Economy
Doconomy Now Shows Users Water-Impact Data for Every Purchase

This week, just ahead of World Oceans Day (June 8), Doconomy has expanded its tools for engaging consumers and financial institutions around the climate impacts of their day-to-day spending and consumption to include their impacts on freshwater resources.

Doconomy’s current Åland Index CO~2~ methodology — which provides users with carbon footprint calculations for every financial transaction — will now provide freshwater calculations, as well. With MIT research projecting that half of the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas by 2050, this first-of-its-kind direct measure of our everyday consumption’s water impacts aims to create a greater understanding of the importance of water locally, nationally and globally — and help all daily users of the financial services industry understand that our every action has a reaction, visible or not.

“Reducing carbon emissions needs to be prioritized by all parties. At Doconomy, we are proud to engage and educate around our lifestyle’s impact on the planet,” says founder and CEO Mathias Wikström. “Until now, however, measuring impact in H~2~O has been very difficult. Expanding Åland Index with the capability to also measure freshwater expenditure is one of my proudest moments since the Åland Index's launch in 2016. By adding H~2~O data to our current CO~2~ methodology, we enable banks to expand their sustainability efforts, to turn water that is invisible to the consumer visible in every transaction.”

The freshwater-impact data rounds out Doconomy’s arsenal of tools helping people around the world understand the impact of their purchases. In 2019, the Swedish impact-tech startup teamed up with Mastercard to release DO — a credit card and free mobile banking service that lets users track, understand and reduce their CO~2~ footprints through carbon offsetting. Then, last summer, the company released the 2030 Calculator — another free tool, which enables fast and reliable product carbon footprint calculations for brands and manufacturers.

Now, Doconomy says that enabling consumers to track and measure the freshwater impact of their consumption is crucial for more fully educating them around our interconnectivity with the planet and our impacts on it. The Åland Index water impact calculations — made possible through data from Doconomy’s partner, S&P Global Trucost — are being recognized by leading banks, as well as by the UN.

“Raising awareness around the water challenge is key to delivering on the Global Goals. Sustainable water usage and healthy oceans is a critical ingredient of a prosperous global economy,” says Eric Usher, Head of the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). “Therefore, supporting banks and the financial sector to engage consumers in tracking and measuring their water footprint is an excellent way to start driving demand for products and services with a low water footprint. I welcome this initiative by Doconomy and all banks that aim to mobilize their users around this important issue.”

The water calculations include direct and indirect water use from consumption, as well as the social price of water — which reflects the price of freshwater consumption based on lost ecosystem services and the impact on human health. They will initially be implemented by three leading banks with the ambition to engage their users: BNP Paribas Bank Polska, Standard Chartered and Ålandsbanken.

Learn more about the Åland Index and the new water-impact calculations here.