CDP water disclosure South Africa report 2011: assessing the value of water

A notable finding in this report is that a significant number of large South African companies have either not been ready to disclose for lack of adequate or reliable data or have perceived themselves to have low exposure to water related risk.

This raises the question of whether companies are sufficiently aware of the multiple issues surrounding water with particular reference to water scarcity, projections of the impacts on water availability due to climate change, energy requirements and rapid urbanisation. It also begs the question of whether companies are able to assess the value of water to their business. Would a business continue to operate if water was suddenly not available to any part of the business including operations and supply chains? Is there potential for conflict if intensive water users compete with communities for water allocations?