On January 24, 2010, The Times published a story highlighting the impact shortages in our water supplies may have on businesses.  The article precedes a report from the UN expected in a few weeks that will inform companies about future requirements to report on water use – “water footprinting” - similar to greenhouse gas emissions reporting.

I wrote a letter to the editor in response to the article, which was published on January 31, 2010, edited for length.  Following is the unedited version of my letter that I wanted to share with you. What do you think?  I welcome your thoughts in comments to this post. 

Dear Sir:

Your report (Now companies face a green squeeze on using water, January 24, 2010) rightly highlights the emerging issue of water footprinting compared to that of carbon but the response of global businesses to sustainability issues are less haphazard than you allow.

First, environmental responsibility as well as business continuity, stakeholder activity and regulatory demands means that corporate social responsibility activities are being influenced by a range of environmental indicators. These include carbon and water as well as waste and energy usage, and each carries particular reporting and management challenges.  For some years, we have seen businesses seeking to understand the global and local impacts of their operations and they are now working towards locating key facilities based on considerations such as energy security and water availability.

Second, effective world-wide monitoring and reporting is going to be critical to assessing businesses’ use of the earth’s resources. Real progress is being made on a global basis by initiatives such as the Carbon Disclosure Project - supported by many large companies - while at the corporate level, sustainability management platforms are starting to simplify firms’ monitoring of their environmental impacts across their operations.  Experts in this field believe these tools will eventually become as important as financial accounting, particularly as corporations will be required to manage the risks and communications issues around such fundamental issues.

The enterprise frameworks and reporting tools that address global sustainability challenges are becoming available and businesses are making use of them.

Yours faithfully
Sonny Masero, Vice President, CA