It reveals that 2,025 of the world’s largest corporations, which collectively represent more than $20.3trn in market capital, are now reporting their water footprint through CDP, up from 1,200 just three years ago.
In a bid to tackle the issue, corporates are increasingly making moves to invest in water access solutions in their areas of operation.
3) Implementing water efficiency measures While energy efficiency plans are a key part of most corporate sustainability strategies, water has historically been something of a “forgotten” environmental footprint.
Since the water retail market opened to businesses last April, more than 100,000 organisations have reportedly switched water retailer in a bid to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Several of these organisations, including brewer Greene King, hospitality giant Whitbread and beverage firm Coca-Cola, are also reaping the environmental and financial benefits of obtaining a self-supply licence to deliver their own water and wastewater services.
5) Investing in initiatives that restore damaged river basins Some 544 companies told CDP that they were taking action to restore river basins in order to address water risks last year, up 124% from 2015 figures, with environmental protection proving to be the top sustainability concern for the majority of businesses to disclose their water footprint through the organisation.
CDP noted that the 7,300 water risks identified last year covered 149 river basins across 102 nations, with businesses increasingly working to go beyond water efficiency practices and lead collective action in river basins around the world.
Meanwhile, 48 corporations have committed to ensuring that all of their employees have access to the appropriate standards of WASH by signing the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (WBCSD) WASH at the workplace pledge.
The research additionally found that for every dollar a company invests in WASH, it can expect to generate $4.3 through increased employee productivity and decreased absenteeism.
This approach has also been adopted by Diageo, which assigns internal water costs to individual manufacturing plants as part of a wider goal to improve water efficiency by 50% by 2020.