Sustainable Insight: Water Scarcity – A dive into global ... - KPMG

Sustainable Insight: Water Scarcity – A dive into global reporting trends | 7The missing footprintOur research shows that whereasthree quarters of the world’s top 250companies address water in their CRreports, far fewer are stating their waterfootprint. One third of the global top 250report the water footprint of their fullcompany; one in five reports the waterfootprint of part of the company only.However, when one examines theresults by industry, it becomes clear thatreporting on the full water footprint ofthe company is more common in somesectors than others.Mining (100 percent) andpharmaceuticals (89 percent)companies are the most likely to reportthe water footprint of their wholecompany whereas only 20 percent offood and beverage companies do so andonly one third of oil and gas, and utilitiescompanies.Given that the food and beverageindustry faces some of the greatestchallenges around water scarcity, itseems inevitable that pressure willincrease for companies in this sector toimprove the level of their water footprintreporting. Companies in the oil andgas sector are also likely to experiencesuch pressure given the water intensivenature of modern extraction methodssuch as fracking.Reported water footprinting by G250 companiesFor part of the company’s water usage onlyFor the full company’s water usageMiningPharmaceuticalsElectronics & ComputersAutomotiveChemicals and SyntheticsConstruction &Building MaterialsOil & GasTransportCommunications & MediaUtilitiesMetals & EngineeringTrade & RetailFinance, Insurance& SecuritiesFood & Beverage0%0%10%19%25%25%25%17%16%23%10%21%29%30%100%89%62%50%50%38%33%33%32%31%30%24%20%20%Source: KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2011© 2012 KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. Member firms of the KPMG network of independent firms are affiliated with KPMG International. KPMG International provides no client services. All rights reserved.