Major companies including Nestlé, Baxter Healthcare, Sainsbury’s, Buro Happold, Boots UK, GlaxoSmithKline, C&A, CLS Holdings, Nokia, Tata Cleantech Capital and Crown Paints have signed up to the first ever framework to manage water and energy use simultaneously.

Businesses and governments must tackle energy and water use in tandem or risk major disruption, according to ground-breaking research released today by sustainability specialists Anthesis and the Water Footprint Network.

The white paper ‘Energising the drops: Towards a Holistic Approach to Carbon and Water Footprint Assessments’ provides the first ever guidance for governments and businesses on how to manage their climate and water impacts simultaneously, both locally and globally.

 Paul McNeillis, Director of Anthesis and co-author of the report commented:

“Until today, water and energy use has been tackled separately. By considering them holistically, we are starting to clear the path towards sustainability.”

 The research was conducted by sustainability consultants Best Foot Forward, part of the Anthesis Group, and the Water Footprint Network, and was released as the Nexus 2104: Water, Food Climate and Energy conference is set to convene at the University of North Carolina.

 Ruth Mathews, Executive Director of the Water Footprint Network, said:

“This invaluable research is a win for the environment and a win for the economy. For the first time, businesses and governments can prioritise where to focus their investments in order to reduce their impacts and derive maximum returns.”

Dangers of considering water and carbon footprints in isolation

The white paper highlights the danger of considering water and carbon footprints in isolation as increasing demand for water places pressure on energy usage. Population increase, varying levels of precipitation and energy-intensive urbanisation are all placing strain on water supplies.

 However, according to separate recent research by the Carbon Disclosure Project, only 63% of major companies have taken steps to manage the business risks.

 The report says that current solutions, including pumping water from lower groundwater tables and desalination, require vast amounts of energy and with their use likely to increase in the coming decades, managing the dynamic between carbon and water use will be essential.

 15 leading businesses, representing 11 different sectors, have committed to looking at their carbon-water management holistically, including Baxter Healthcare, Buro Happold, Sainsbury’s, Boots UK, Crown Paints, C&A, CLS Holdings Plc, GlaxoSmithKline, Nestlé, Nokia and Tata Cleantech Capital Ltd.

Pascal Gréverath of Nestlé commented:

“This more holistic approach, combining climate change and water impacts, enhances the quality of the assessment and provides a more robust basis for decision-making; biodiversity impacts will have to be considered too in the future.”

Click here to download the report in full.