Developing Enterprise Water Targets Informed by Local Contexts: Cargill’s Approach

This case study describes a three-step framework developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Cargill to establish enterprise-wide contextual water targets. The approach shifts focus from direct operations to the broader value chain, prioritizing locations based on water risk severity and the company's proportional contribution to local water challenges.

• WRI and Cargill implemented a three-step process to determine contextual water targets: first, assessing and prioritizing value chain sections with significant water dependencies or impacts; second, assessing water-related risks to prioritize specific locations; and third, setting targets for those priority locations proportional to the company's contribution to the water challenges.
• In the first step of the framework, Cargill and WRI prioritized direct operations and the upstream agricultural crop supply chain, identifying the latter as the most essential section due to agriculture's heavy reliance on and potential negative impact on water resources.
• To prioritize locations in the second step, WRI's Aqueduct tools were used to assess global indicators for water quality, water availability, and access to water. Catchments were prioritized if they exceeded thresholds for both the severity of the water challenge and the proportional share of water consumption attributable to Cargill's agricultural supply chains.
• Cargill established a mix of process-oriented and outcome-oriented targets for priority facilities and catchments, including a commitment to restore 600 billion liters of water and a commitment to reduce water pollutants by five million kilograms.
• The case study highlights that for sectors like food, beverages, and textiles, the largest footprint and risk often exist outside direct operations. It recommends using global models like Aqueduct to manage data gaps and suggests updating target-setting methodologies every three to five years.

APA

World Resources Institute (2020). Developing Enterprise Water Targets Informed by Local Contexts: Cargill’s Approach. https://www.wri.org/research/developing-enterprise-water-targets-informed-local-contexts-cargills-approach

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Developing Enterprise Water Targets Informed by Local Contexts: Cargill’s Approach. 2020. https://www.wri.org/research/developing-enterprise-water-targets-informed-local-contexts-cargills-approach.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Developing Enterprise Water Targets Informed by Local Contexts: Cargill’s Approach |date=2 June 2020 |url=https://www.wri.org/research/developing-enterprise-water-targets-informed-local-contexts-cargills-approach |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2020developing, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Developing Enterprise Water Targets Informed by Local Contexts: Cargill’s Approach}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/developing-enterprise-water-targets-informed-local-contexts-cargills-approach}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }