Water Has Become a Corporate Issue

According to a Booz Allen Hamilton report in 2005, 55% of the $41 trillion investment in infrastructure that will be required through 2030 will be devoted to water infrastructure.  It is projected that demand for water will exceed supply by 40 percent by 2030.  A recent World Water Development report projects that 47 per cent of the world's population will be living in areas of high water stress by 2030.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) enables organizations including cities to report green house gas emissions and their strategies for addressing climate change.  3,000 organizations in 60 countries report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies through CDP. 

In recognition that water has become an important corporate issue, for the first time CDP has just released the CDP Water Disclosure 2010 Global Report.  CDP sent a questionnaire to 302 of the world’s largest companies asking for information about their water use.  122 of these responded and a further 25 companies responding voluntarily.  The responses were analyzed by Environmental Resource Management (ERM).  89% of the companies responding have already developed water policies and plans, and 60% have set water-related performance targets.

Utilities

37 utilities were contacted including Alstom, American Electric Power, Centrica, CEZ, Chubu Electric Power, CLP Holdings, Dominion Resources, Duke Energy, E.ON, EDP - Energias de Portugal, Electricite de France (EDF), ELECTROBRAS, Endesa, ENEL, Entergy, Exelon, Fortum, Gas Natural SDG, GDF Suez, Hong Kong and China Gas, Iberdrola, Iberdrola Renovables, Kansai Electric Power, Korea Electric Power (Kepco), National Grid, National Thermal Power (NTPC), NextEra Energy, PG&E, Polska Grupa Energetyczna, Public Service Enterprise Group, RWE, Scottish & Southern Energy, Snam Rete Gas, Southwestern Energy, Tepco (Tokyo Electric Power), The Southern Company, Veolia Environment and 14 responded. 12 of the 14 reported owning facilities in water-stressed regions.

The utilities sector has historically been most concerned about air emissions (in the US 41% of CO₂ emissions are from power generation), but 69% of the respondents said they were aware of the linkages between energy and water, not only for hydroelectric generation but also for conventional and nuclear thermal power generation (in the US half of water withdrawals are for thermal power generation).  Respondents foresaw increased water stress reducing water availability for cooling in thermal plants and for hydroelectric generation, leading to higher energy prices and potentially disrupting operations.  85% of respondents reported having a plan or strategy for water.