Primary Functions
- Understand how companies can better manage the business risks and opportunities associated with water security, with a particular focus on water pollution.
Detailed Description
This report is aimed at companies and investors seeking to understand how they can better manage the business risks and opportunities associated with water security, with a particular focus on water pollution. It presents analyses from companies that were asked to provide data about their efforts to manage freshwater risks and impacts through CDP’s water security questionnaire. CDP’s water security program, now in its 10th year, supports companies to respond to stakeholder requests for increased transparency of water-related issues and incentivizes them to play their part in achieving water security for all.
This report presents an analysis of all companies that completed CDP’s water security questionnaire in 2019 – the 2,433 companies that responded to a request through CDP from either their investors or their business customers. This is the first year that our global water report brings together these two datasets in order to provide a more holistic, market-based view that helps identify key trends at an industry and geographic level. Companies that voluntarily responded to the water security questionnaire are also included. The data set includes well known global companies such as Microsoft Corporation, Johnson & Johnson and Nestlé worth hundreds of billions of dollars, as well as smaller supply chain companies in manufacturing and materials sectors worth less than US$500 million.
Whilst the number of disclosing companies increased again this year (2,433 up from 2,144 in 2018) more than 2,500 companies failed to meet investor or customer requests for data. These companies are missing opportunities to strengthen shareholder and customer confidence as well as opportunities to seize economic benefits in the forms of lower costs of capital.
In this report we shine a light on water pollution, an issue that has been grossly underestimated yet can severely affect business performance, as well as have widespread economic, human health and ecological implications. The report investigates the extent to which companies are taking action on pollution, and explores the opportunities this issue presents.
