This metric is intended to capture if the organization had a water management policy that included protections of aquatic ecosystems and sustainable water withdrawal, use, and discharge as of the end of the reporting period.
Water management policies may also include the following focus areas:
Promotes the prevention of further deterioration and protects and enhances the status of aquatic ecosystems
Promotes sustainable water use based on the long-term protection of available water resources
Aims at enhanced protection and improvement of the aquatic environment
Promotes a good environmental status of marine water
Promotes the reduction of water withdrawals and water discharges
Organizations' water management policies may also include objectives that:
Ensure good ecological and chemical quality of water bodies in order to protect human health, water supply, natural ecosystems and biodiversity, the good environmental status of marine waters, and the protection of the resource base upon which marine-related activities depend
Minimize material impacts and risks and implement mitigation measures that aim to maintain the value and functionality of priority services and to increase resource efficiency on own operations
Avoid impacts on affected communities
Organizations' water management policies may include targets relating to the reduction of water withdrawals and the reduction of water discharges.
Organizations may refer to the following guidance on water and marine resources: https://www.efrag.org/Assets/Download?assetUrl=%2Fsites%2Fwebpublishing%2FMeeting%20Documents%2F2211141505388508%2FDRAFT%20ESRS%20E3%20Water%20and%20marine%20resources%2015%20November%202022.pdf
Organizations may refer to the following guidance by the Science-Based Targets Initiative for Nature (SBT) for more information on target setting: https://ceowatermandate.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Setting-Enterprise-Water-Targets-2021.pdf