Real water footprints: The importance of depth in volumes

Water footprinting is a tool that has generated increasing interest from businesses, academics and governments alike. Fuelled by growing concerns regarding the sustainability of global water resources, it has been seen by many as a method through which water resource issues can be better understood and managed. Water footprinting has also been identified as a tool that could help businesses minimise exposure to operational water risks and exploit an emerging global trade in ‘virtual water’.

To date, much of the work undertaken to standardise water footprint methods has centred on quantifying the volumes of water used in product manufacture or to deliver a service. It is however increasingly apparent that this can result in a misleading water footprint that does not fully consider the regional impacts of water abstraction and the local context of water use. The importance of incorporating an assessment of the impacts related to the water used or discharged within the water footprint process is consequently becoming widely acknowledged.

This paper will provide an overview of the water footprint concept and highlight the key drivers towards an impacts-related water footprint. An ongoing Cadbury Plc and ERM project to develop a pilot water footprint method that incorporates an indicative impacts assessment will also be profiled.