Water Balance Targets

The report examines 'water balance' goals, where companies aim to restore a volume of water equivalent to what they consume. While these goals provide clear communication and incentive for action, the document argues that they must be grounded in local basin contexts and collective action to avoid 'greenwashing' and effectively mitigate physical, regulatory, and reputational risks. It highlights the transition toward 'context-based targets' aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 6.

• Water balance goals are defined by the general principle that a volume of water consumed by a company is "balanced" through interventions in watersheds and communities outside the plant walls, effectively adding back water that would otherwise be "lost" to business uses.
• Companies adopt water balance goals for several reasons: ease of communication with audiences, opportunities to connect with local communities and employees, brand enhancement, incentivizing internal efficiency and external engagement, ensuring project longevity, and mitigating physical, regulatory, or reputational risks.
• Quantifying the benefits of balance projects varies by project type: water access projects are measured by the number of people provided with safe drinking water, while watershed projects use empirical and process-based methods to estimate volumes of water 'saved', 'kept', 'given', or 'returned'.
• To avoid accusations of "greenwashing," water balance goals must utilize defensible measurement indicators and be integrated into broader stewardship strategies that include collective action to improve basin-wide policies and management.
• The report identifies a shift toward 'context-based targets' for water, which are designed to address specific basin challenges and align with Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), as science alone cannot produce consistent targets for water in the way it does for carbon.
• Several global companies have implemented specific balance commitments: The Coca-Cola Company aims to "safely return to communities and nature an amount of water equivalent to what is used in our beverages and their production by 2020"; Keurig targets balancing the water used in every beverage by 2020; and PepsiCo achieves a positive balance through in-plant conservation and agricultural initiatives.

APA

Bass, L., & Larson, W. (2016). Water Balance Targets. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/703/sazpxtb7q_WWF_Water_Balance_Targets_Report.pdf

Chicago

Bass, L., and W. Larson. Water Balance Targets. WWF International, 2016. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/703/sazpxtb7q_WWF_Water_Balance_Targets_Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bass |first1=L. |last2=Larson |first2=W. |title=Water Balance Targets |publisher=WWF International |date=2016 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/703/sazpxtb7q_WWF_Water_Balance_Targets_Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bass2016water, author = {Bass, L. and Larson, W.}, title = {{Water Balance Targets}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2016}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/703/sazpxtb7q_WWF_Water_Balance_Targets_Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }