Carbon Trust honours companies with inaugural water reduction award

Coca-Cola Enterprises, Sainsbury’s, Branston and Sunlight are the first four organisations to win a new Carbon Trust award for water reduction.

The quartet were revealed as winners on Wednesday, when the Carbon Trust launched their inaugural water standard prize. The organisation says the award aims to “catalyse business action on measuring, managing and reducing water use” and will alter the way investors, stakeholders and customers perceive businesses sustainability standards.

According to the Carbon Trust, carbon reductions are no longer enough. The company is now using water management as its new platform to urge businesses help preserve depleting water resources by reducing their consumption.

When the Carbon Trust interviewed 475 senior executives of large companies in the UK, USA, Brazil, South Korea and China, results found only one in seven had set targets on water reduction. It is hoped that the new scheme will help push more businesses to think about water management more in-depth.

David Nussbaum, executive director of WWF-UK, reflected with positivity on the new international scheme: “Growing demand, poor management and climate change are creating a global water challenge. In order to manage risk, organisations need to take action to measure, manage and reduce their water use and to encourage better water management across river basins.”

He added, “Standards such as that developed by the Carbon Trust help open these practices up to rigorous, independent certification; and committing to reducing water use year-on-year lets businesses demonstrate that they have begun the journey towards improved water stewardship.”

The exciting opportunity to be one of the first organisations to gain the Carbon Trust water standard award is open to businesses worldwide.

Managing water sustainably is just one facet of responsible business. Another – renewable energy – is explored in-depth by Blue & Green Tomorrow’s Guide to Limitless Clean Energy 2012.

Further reading:

Water efficiency could provide 3.7m jobs by 2020

WaterAid urges governments to ‘invest in access to sanitation and water’

Investment in water is a ‘first necessity’

Safe drinking water goal achieved, but not in most deprived areas

Managing water for sustainable prosperity: ‘radical transformations’ needed