For the second year, companies operating in water-intensive sectors or exposed to water-related risks were invited to participate in the annual Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Water Disclosure global report. Deloitte and CDP prepared the data and analysis based on the responses.
Data was collected regarding water use, strategies, risks and opportunities from 315 companies identified as operating in water-stressed locations or industry sectors. Participants were selected from the Global 500, and for the first time this year, from the Australia 100 and South Africa 100.
According to the 2011 report, 57% of the 190 companies that participated in the survey reported board-level oversight of water policies, strategies, or plans. By comparison, a report released by CDP in September showed that 94% of Global 500 companies reported board-level oversight of climate change.
Over half of the companies (59%) reported exposure to water-related risks, such as flooding, scarcity, and reputation damage. The majority of the risks are near term: 64% of risks in direct operations and 66% of risks in the supply chain are identified as occurring between now and 2016.
Illustrating the urgency of water risk, more than one-third of responding companies (38%) have already experienced water-related business impacts, such as disruption to operations from severe weather events (e.g., flooding) and water shortages.
For more information, visit http://www.cdproject.net.
