2Sustain

I’ll say it again: “Water is the new carbon.”

And, it’s becoming increasingly important for 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.”

SABMiller is doing just that.

Last month, SABMiller, one of the world’s largest brewers, teamed up with WWF to release a report that explains the water footprint for SABMiller’s beers in South Africa and the Czech Republic.

The 28-page report, titled “Water Footprinting: Identifying & Addressing Water Risks in the Value Chain,” documents water use, both direct and indirect, throughout the entire value chain –from crop cultivation and processing through to brewing and distributing the beer.

The water footprint analysis concluded that:

• In South Africa, 155 liters of water are required to manufacture every 1 liter of beer, such as Castle lager and Carling Black Label. The vast majority of this (98.3%) comes from the cultivation of crops, both local and imported.

• In the Czech Republic, SABMiller’s water footprint is considerably smaller. 45 liters of water go into every 1 liter of beer produced there. Again, over 90% of the footprint comes from agricultural aspects of beer manufacture. However, the company says the difference in the total footprints is due to a number of factors including weather, the reliance on irrigation in South Africa, and the proportion and origin of imported crops.

Certainly, it’s important to calculate numbers like these and arrive at a “definitive” water footprint for a particular product or process. But, it’s also critical that companies go a step further and put this data into context.

For instance, SABMiller can use this new water footprint information to better understand what proportion of an area’s total water resource are being used in their manufacturing processes. The company can also begin to determine how water scarcity impacts its risk management strategies.

“Water footprinting enables SABMiller to understand which parts of our supply chain might face water scarcity, or poor water quality, in the future, and means that we can plan now to deal with these future challenges,” says Andy Wales, SABMiller head of sustainable development. “We will build on our existing partnerships with WWF in South Africa, Colombia, and Honduras to create further local watershed protection projects to reduce risk whilst protecting the environment.”

You can download the full report here.