BBC News, Mark
Kinver, Environment reporter, 19 February 2013
Related
Stories
 |
| Irrigation accounts for the vast majority of global freshwater consumption |
The UK's
Carbon Trust, which developed the scheme, said many business leaders did not
see the issue as a priority.
The Water
Standard will require firms to measure water use and demonstrate efforts taken
to reduce consumption.
It is
estimated that more than 60% of Europe's largest cities consume water faster
than it can be replenished.
UN data
shows that 70% of global freshwater use is for irrigation, 22% is used by
industry and 8% is used in homes.
Water use
is forecast to increase in developing nations by 50% by 2025 and by 18% in
developed nations.
"We
know that most businesses that are very big users of water don't really have a
handle on [water stewardship]," explained Carbon Trust chief executive Tom
Delay.
"Very
few measure it, even fewer have targets to reduce consumption. So even if there
is not a significant cost penalty for water use, there is a very significant
business risk."
In order to
be awarded the Carbon Trust Water standard, Mr Delay said the process was
"relatively straightforward".
 |
| The Carbon Trust said that there was no global standard for business water reduction |
"We
look at the various water supply methods: mains, surface water abstraction,
groundwater and rainwater collection.
"All
of the water than comes into the company we will count as an input. We will
also look at trade effluent because it is the dirty water and normally needs to
be licensed and manage very carefully.
"We
are looking for companies that are awarded the Standard to show a year-on-year
reduction on both water input and effluent."
The Trust
decided to branch out from its usual territory of measuring energy use and
carbon footprints because there was not a global standard on water reduction,
he added.
"We
firmly believe that if you measure something and if you manage it, then you
will reduce it and improve its performance.
But, he
said: "We are not covering every single angle of water stewardship in this
standard [but] we are saying that if you can reduce that then that is moving in
the right direction."
Mr Delay
explained that the issue of water scarcity was closely linked to climate change
because "one of the big impacts will be the threat to freshwater
supplies".
'Early
adopters'
Among the
four "early adopters" of the standard was Coca-Cola, whose operations
in India had been criticised by campaigners who said the firm was abstracting too much water, which was having a detrimental impact on surrounding farmland.
Mr Delay
said that the Trust's standard had been awarded to Coca-Cola Enterprises, which
was responsible for the northern European operations of the global brand.
But he
added: "The more people get into managing their water use, the more they
will be exposed these sorts of questions and, hopefully, come up with some
solutions."
On the
website for the Coca-Cola Great Britain, which is a separate company to the
Enterprises operation, it said: "We believe we can be part of the solution
to India's water issues and we've made water stewardship the primary focus of
our sustainability efforts throughout the country.
"We've
improved our water use efficiency by 14% since 2004 and we're continuing to
invest in new innovations and plant processes to help us make even more
improvements moving forward."
Commenting
on the launch of the Water Standard, Coca-Cola Enterprises chairman and chief
executive John Brock described water as "fundamental to our business and
our communities".
"By
measuring and managing our water impact... we can address longer-term water
scarcity issues," he said.
"This
certification recognises the progress we have made towards becoming a
water-sustainable operation."
Related Article:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.