New report calls for improved water reporting by business

http://www.pacinst.org/press_center/press_releases/water_disclosure_3_11_09.html

A new report by the Pacific Institute  (commissioned by the UN-established CEO Water Mandate) calls for improved usage reporting by water-intensive industries such as beverage, chip manufacturing, extractive industry, forestry products and pharmaceuticals. 

Among the most significant findings of Water Disclosure 2.0 are:

1. Corporate reporting on water needs to be expanded to include actions and impacts outside of direct operations, including information on supply chain performance, regional or local water use, and contextual information for better understanding corporate water risks and impacts.
2. Less than half of the companies assessed described their materiality assessments or their efforts to utilize stakeholder input to inform their Corporate Responsibility reporting, both key measures underpinning robust reports.
3. Water reporting was not sufficiently comprehensive or comparable, particularly with regard to a number of the “process-oriented” elements addressed in The CEO Water Mandate, including Public Policy, Supply Chain Management, and Collective Action, which were addressed by only a small percentage of companies.

See also: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/03/09/preventing_a_water_crisis/