World-first water reduction award launched
The world’s first international award for water reduction has been launched this week by the Carbon Trust.
The idea of the award is to encourage businesses to take action to measure, manage and reduce water use in a bid to change sustainability benchmarks, and the way they are viewed by investors, stakeholders and customers.
“Carbon reduction is no longer enough,” says Carbon Trust chief executive Tom Delay. “Water is the new frontier in the battle against climate change and the devastating impact of depleting resources. The Carbon Trust is using this platform to urge businesses to reduce their water consumption as a matter of urgency.”
In developing the methodology for the award, the Carbon Trust has worked closely with Sainsbury’s, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Sunlight and Branston, four early adopters of the Carbon Trust Water Standard.
According to the Carbon Trust, businesses around the world are not acting fast enough, despite the fact that global water use is predicted to increase dramatically by 2030 to a level far exceeding current freshwater availability.
“Failure to act is exposing businesses to water scarcity issues down the line, which in some cases could lead to dramatically increased costs, or could grind operations to a standstill,” adds Delay. “We’ve launched the Water Standard to help companies monitor and manage their water usage and build resource efficiency into future business plans.
“We know from our extensive experience helping companies to manage carbon reduction that a stringent approach to use of resources can lead to new commercial opportunities and thriving businesses, particularly for those who take the lead here and set the benchmark for others to follow.”