2Sustain

Last month, I wrote a post about an innovative way to measure your water footprint. This week, water is making headlines again, as a new report from Ceres and the Pacific Institute urges companies to start scrutinizing their water practices and managing the risks associated with decreasing water availability.

“The business community needs to wake up to the reality that water is becoming scarcer and will likely become even more so in many parts of the world due to climate change,” says Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres. “It is critical that companies and investors boost their attention on this issue.”

The comprehensive, 60-page report, titled “Water Scarcity & Climate Change: Growing Risks for Businesses and Investors” identifies water-related risks specific to eight water-intensive industry sectors:

• High-tech (This sector is especially vulnerable since 11 of the world’s 14 largest semiconductor factories are in the Asia-Pacific region, where water scarcity risks are particularly severe.)

• Beverage

• Agriculture

• Electric power/energy

• Apparel

• Biotech/pharmaceutical

• Forest products

• Metal/mining

It also includes suggested action steps for evaluating and addressing water risks. For example, the report advises that you:

• Measure your water footprint throughout your entire value chain, including suppliers and product use.

• Evaluate physical, regulatory, and reputational risks associated with your water footprint and align those with your broader sustainability plan.

• Integrate water issues into your strategic business planning and governance structures.

• Engage key stakeholders.

• Disclose and communicate water performance and associated risks.

Each of these steps is addressed in detail, and the report includes several case studies of companies that have smart water practices already underway. Not only are these firms managing their risks, they’re also capitalizing on significant opportunities available from strategic water management. (For instance, Steelcase, a leader in the office furniture industry, collaborated with a major supplier, DuBois Chemicals, to streamline its supply chain. As a result, Dubois experienced remarkable benefits, including energy savings of 60%, waste stream reductions up to 95%, and water usage reductions of 80%.)

I strongly recommend that you take a few minutes to read through this report. As the authors conclude:

“It is increasingly clear that the era of cheap and easy access to water is ending, posing a potentially greater threat to businesses than the loss of any other natural resource, including fossil fuel resources. That is because there are various alternatives for oil, but for many industrial processes, and for human survival itself, there is no substitute for water. Company executives and investors have no choice but to boost their scrutiny of water-related risks, especially in regions where water supplies are already under stress.”