Water management
Water is one of the most valuable resources. Unfortunately, in many places, it’s becoming harder to find clean, fresh water because of pollution, overuse and climate change. Hence, water management is an important part of ESG practices.
One of the main things that companies should report is the amount of water they use. This information can help stakeholders understand the company’s impact on local water supplies. If a company uses a lot of water in areas where it is scarce, it could be putting communities and ecosystems at risk.
The second thing that companies should report is what they do with the water after use. Many industries release water back into the environment after using it. If this water is polluted, it can harm plants, animals and people. Companies need to report on how they treat waste water before releasing it, and follow local laws about water quality. Responsible water treatment shows that a business cares about the health of the environment and the communities it operates in.
Additionally, companies should report on the efforts they are making to avoide wasting water. They can use less water by recycling it whenever possible. This shows that they are committed in protecting water supplies.
Moreover, companies that operate in areas where water is scarce need to be very careful about how they use the resource. They should explain what they are doing to reduce their impact. This could include working with local communities to share water fairly or invest in technologies that require less water.
Finally, companies should report on their plans for the future. These plans could include setting goals to use less water overall, or investing in better waste water treatment systems. These plans are not only good for the environment, but they also help protect the business from risks such as water shortages or stricter regulations.
Based on their 2024 sustainability report, Microsoft claimed to be investing in their water positive commitment in four ways.
First, they are taking action to reduce the intensity with which they withdraw resources by continuing to design and innovate in order to minimize water use and achieve their intensity target.
Additionally, due to the increase in AI compute demands, Microsoft aims to reduce their global reliance on freshwater resources by building data centers that consume zero water for cooling. They also joined the Coalition for Water Recycling with the aim of advancing water policy.
Finally, they plan on developing innovative scalable replenishment projects in high water stress locations where they operate data centers. To achieve this, they announced Water United, a new initiative to unite public and private sectors in reducing water loss from leakage across the Colorado River Basin.
Coca-Cola is one company that uses a lot of water for their finished product. In their 2024 sustainability report, they shared various goals designed to help improve water security.
To begin with, they aim to continue to replenish 100% of the water they use in finished beverages to nature and communities. In 2023, they returned 148% of the water used in their finished beverages. They also had a goal of returning a cumulative total of 2 trillion litres of water to nature and communities globally between 2021 and 2030. Between 2021 and 2023, they returned a cumulative total of 861 billion litres of water. Another goal reported was the reduction of water use ratio by 20%, by 2030, using a 2015 baseline. Since 2015, they have reduced their water use ratio by 10%. In 2023, they used 1.78 litres of water per litre of beverage. The company is in the process of developing plans to improve the health of 60 watersheds identified as most critical for their operations and agricultural supply chains by 2030.
Their CDP Water Security Score for 2023 was an A-
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