Document Actions
Brooke Barton
Director, Water Program
- email: barton@ceres.org
- twitter: @@brookedbarton
Brooke leads Ceres’ water program, directing the organization’s research and corporate and investor engagement on the risks and opportunities related to growing water scarcity. She is the co-author of The Ceres Aqua Gauge: A Framework for 21st Century Water Risk Management and author of the 2010 Ceres study with Bloomberg and UBS looking at corporate water disclosure, Murky Waters: Corporate Reporting on Water Risk. Brooke also works with Ceres company members in the food and beverage sector, advising them on sustainability strategy and reporting, and coordinating dialogues between companies and their investor, NGO and labor union stakeholders.
Prior to Ceres, Brooke was a researcher for the Harvard Business School's Social Enterprise Initiative, where she wrote case studies and articles on the CSR strategies of multinational corporations in developing countries. While at Harvard, she co-edited Business Solutions for the Global Poor: Creating Economic and Social Value, a book examining over 20 business models for serving low-income consumers. Brooke's other professional experience includes communications and advocacy work with ACCION International, a microfinance NGO, and project evaluation with Catholic Relief Services in Bolivia. She holds a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a B.A. in economics from Duke University. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese.
Recent Blog Posts
Why water consciousness is a business imperative in China
Toxic industrial runoff, overdrawn ground water and even bloated pigs and dead ducks in major waterways. The list of China's water woes is long and appears to be growing.
Can top corporations develop needed water solutions?
What’s one thing the Sisters of Mercy and the titans of Wall Street have in common? A deepening realization of water’s fundamental value.
Hydro Logic: A Crucial Tool to Help Companies Address Water Risk
Water bills make up a tiny fraction of operating costs even for companies that use vast amounts of the stuff, and ample supplies have traditionally been taken for granted. But, in many areas of the United States and around the world, fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce, polluted and contested.
The Guardian: Water issues create strong undercurrent at Rio+20
Studies suggest that the world may be facing a global water shortfall of 40% by 2030 and this is something that governments and industry must face together.
Environmental Finance: Engaging with Water Risk
For most investors, a detailed bottom-up assessment of water risk across hundreds of companies is likely to be impossible. Enter a new tool to assess corporate responses to water risk and opportunity. Ceres' Brooke Barton and Irbaris' David Hampton explain.

