Business Risk, Opportunities Around Water New Target of Deloitte

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) and Deloitte Consulting LLP in the United States, with collaborations from non-profit organization Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), have inked an agreement to drive CDP Water Disclosure.

CDP Water Disclosure, launched in November 2009, aims to help investors, companies, governments, and other stakeholders in their decision making by making meaningful, systematic, and comparable reporting on water usage a standard corporate practice globally.

In September 2010, PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that only 19 percent of world’s largest companies have made appreciable carbon reductions, while over 500 largest companies are contributing 11 percent of global carbon emissions.

CDP is an independent non-profit organization holding the largest database of primary corporate climate change and water information in the world. Some 3,000 organizations across the world’s largest economies now measure and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, water usage and assessment of climate change and water risk and opportunity through CDP, in order to set reduction targets and make performance improvements.

Moreover, CDP, through its Water Disclosure Report, provides critical data from the world’s largest corporations to inform the global marketplace on water-related investment risks and commercial opportunities. In 2011, CDP has requested information on the risks and opportunities companies face in relation to water on behalf of 354 investors (up from 137 in 2010), with assets of US$43 trillion.

“Water scarcity and declining quality present challenges that affect governments, businesses, investors, and individuals,” said Marcus Norton, Head of CDP Water Disclosure.

“Most companies do not yet have a good understanding of how changing patterns of water availability will affect their businesses or of how their businesses affect water resources.

“CDP Water Disclosure, strengthened with Deloitte’s global reach and thought leadership on water stewardship, will continue to accelerate the development of standards around water reporting and to offer businesses, the investment community, and other stakeholders much-needed insight on critical issues.”

The agreement between Deloitte and CDP will require collaboration on water stewardship thought leadership and will leverage insight gleaned from DTTL member firms’ years of work with some of the world’s largest companies.

“Water use and water scarcity have emerged as critical business issues for many industries, and as a result, for investors,” said Nick Main, Global Leader, Sustainability, DTTL.

“CDP Water Disclosure is a groundbreaking program that aims to bring transparency to the issue of water use.

“This initiative provides a tremendous opportunity for Deloitte and CDP to catalyze broad action toward sustainable water management by accelerating the development of standard measures and performance benchmarks around water use.”

William Sarni, Director and Practice Leader, Enterprise Water Strategy at Deloitte Consulting LLP in the United States and the author of a recently released book entitled Corporate Water Strategies, said that “the fact that most companies are unsure of their water footprint within their supply chain underlines the need for an enterprise water strategy.”

“With many companies, this strategy development process reveals opportunities for new products and technologies,” Sarni added.