We need to rethink ESG to ensure access to water and sanitation for all

The author contends that current ESG frameworks under-represent water as a material business risk and are overly focused on climate change. To achieve Sustainable Development Goals for water, the author proposes making ESG reporting mandatory, consolidating fragmented reporting frameworks, and shifting from 'footprint' metrics to a broader understanding of a company's positive impact and the unique, non-fungible nature of water.

• Current ESG reporting is fragmented across numerous voluntary frameworks and metrics, which increases the reporting burden on companies and hinders the alignment of metrics like water reuse. There is an ongoing effort to align major frameworks including CDP, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).
• The author argues that ESG reporting must become mandatory rather than voluntary to increase transparency and effectively engage businesses in solving complex water issues by changing accounting rules.
• Existing 'footprint' reporting strategies are insufficient for water because, unlike carbon, water is not fungible and possesses unique spatial, temporal, quality, social, and spiritual attributes. Consequently, corporate strategies like 'water neutral' or 'net positive' often fail to account for these characteristics.
• ESG frameworks often overlook the positive 'handprint' of certain sectors, such as the information, communication technology (ICT) sector, which develops AI and IoT technologies that improve water efficiency and management.
• Water risks are frequently subordinated to climate risks in ESG frameworks, based on the misconception that solving climate change will automatically solve water problems. In reality, water management issues existed prior to climate change, which now acts as a 'force multiplier' for these problems.

APA

Sarni, W. (2021). We need to rethink ESG to ensure access to water and sanitation for all. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/rethink-esg-to-ensure-access-to-water-and-sanitation-for-all/

Chicago

Sarni, Will. We need to rethink ESG to ensure access to water and sanitation for all. World Economic Forum, 2021. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/rethink-esg-to-ensure-access-to-water-and-sanitation-for-all/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Sarni |first1=Will |title=We need to rethink ESG to ensure access to water and sanitation for all |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=20 August 2021 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/rethink-esg-to-ensure-access-to-water-and-sanitation-for-all/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{sarni2021need, author = {Sarni, Will}, title = {{We need to rethink ESG to ensure access to water and sanitation for all}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2021}, month = aug, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/rethink-esg-to-ensure-access-to-water-and-sanitation-for-all/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }