Water stewardship for business resilience: How science-based targets for freshwater are future-proofing corporate strategies
16/09/2025
By Iris Panorel, Member of the Accountability Accelerator’s Integrity Council for the validation of science-based targets for nature, and Paola Delgado Luna, Validation Director at the Accountability Accelerator
At World Water Week this year, companies sent a clear message: water stewardship is vital for business resilience.
Speaking on a panel in Stockholm, Francisco Herrera, Global Water Lead at The HEINEKEN Company said: “The real motivation is business sustainability in the long term […] We have been in the marketplace since 1864, and we really want to be there in the coming 100 years; but sometimes the projections that we currently have are shorter than that. So compliance is one thing, but what really motivates us is to be sustainable in the long run.”
The growing awareness of water as a crucial resource for business sustainability is encouraging. Water scarcity, pollution and inadequate access to clean water are rapidly growing global concerns: according to the UN, half the world’s countries have degraded freshwater systems, while data from WRI show that 25 countries — housing one-quarter of the global population — face extremely high water stress each year, regularly using up almost their entire available water supply.
The repercussions for business are stark. 2024 research from CDP found that large companies risk losing up to $77bn due to water-related risks in their supply chains, with those losses linked to supply chain disruptions, lost sales and reputational damage.
In the words of Procter & Gamble’s Water Stewardship Leader Shannon Quinn, speaking at World Water Week: “Quite simply for Procter & Gamble, water is essential to our business.”
Science-based action
What can companies do to reduce their impacts on water, protect ecosystems and secure the water supplies they need to operate sustainably?
Science-based targets for freshwater are a route for companies to actively manage and protect the water resources they depend on.
Developed by the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), they provide companies with a measurable, actionable and timebound pathway to action that is aligned with Earth’s limits and societal sustainability goals. By translating water data into targets, they also help companies demonstrate action to key stakeholders such as investors who are increasingly aware of the importance of addressing water risk.
SBTN’s science-based targets for freshwater currently focus on two key issues: water use (specifically withdrawals from surface water bodies and groundwater) and freshwater pollution resulting from nitrogen and phosphorus.
Leading companies including GSK, Holcim and Kering are already implementing freshwater science-based targets. For example, Swiss-based building materials manufacturer Holcim has set a target to reduce freshwater withdrawals in its direct operations in the Moctezuma basin in Mexico – one of the most water-stressed parts of the world – by 39% by 2030, compared to an average 2022-2023 baseline.
Companies are seeing the benefits of target-setting. At a World Water Week session organized by SBTN’s Freshwater Hub, Kering’s Head of Sustainable Sourcing & Nature Initiatives Rachel Kolbe Semhoun explained how the target-setting process helped the company gain greater visibility in the furthest reaches of its value chain. The information they were able to gather was a “gamechanger,” according to Semhoun, for developing a shared understanding of the challenges faced within an area and the possible goals to put in place.
The challenges and solutions are different from one river basin to another, and companies must act where their operations (and supply chains) impact the communities and ecosystems they depend on. The science-based targets for freshwater methods combine locally- and globally-developed hydrological models with insights from stakeholder consultation, to ensure that company targets are grounded in the best available science and knowledge.
A wave of action
With the water crisis escalating and growing risks to business and nature, we need to see many more companies following these first-movers. With SBTN having recently introduced a series of feasibility enhancements to make it easier for companies to begin their target-setting journey and scale action over time, science-based targets are now accessible via a number of routes.
However, setting credible water targets is not easy – with data gaps, complex supply chains, and even the need to align internally on the company’s water goals all common challenges faced by companies. Practical tools and guidance are an essential part of helping businesses overcome them.
Through its grantmaking the Accountability Accelerator is supporting corporate uptake of freshwater targets in key regions globally. We also operate the independent validation service for science-based targets for nature, a vital step in the target-setting process for ensuring alignment with SBTN’s requirements.
Validation provides a stamp of approval to companies’ work, confirming it meets SBTN’s robust criteria. It is proof – to investors, customers and other stakeholders – that companies are building resilient, credible strategies, and not just ticking a box. The Accountability Accelerator is continuously updating its validation resources to best support companies through the validation process and to reflect new insights and feedback from companies.
In Stockholm, Holcim’s Lara Hildebrand spoke of the importance of validated targets for helping companies comply with other frameworks such as TNFD, CSRD and CDP: “Being able to have a validated SBTN target really helps us with these frameworks. It allows us to be able to report more accurately and has allowed us to see where data is missing; now we are setting up programs along our value chain to gather more information.”
What’s next for SBTs for freshwater and validation?
At World Water Week, SBTN launched a public consultation for technical guidance for a new version of the Freshwater science-based targets which expands the scope to include groundwater use and toxic chemical pollution – helping companies address a greater share of their freshwater impacts.
The Accountability Accelerator continues to work closely with SBTN to ensure our validation services reflect the growing scope and accessibility enhancements being introduced. In the meantime, Freshwater Version 1 targets, published in 2024, are available for adoption now and compatible with the forthcoming new guidance, enabling companies to start taking credible, science-based action on freshwater today.
Finally, it is important to stress that water cannot be dealt with in isolation: it is tightly interlinked with climate and biodiversity, and a critical enabler of both climate and nature solutions. By leveraging the synergies between land use, water and greenhouse gas management, companies can create more compelling narratives for regulators, investors, and communities, and ultimately strengthen their own resilience strategies.
The SBTN framework facilitates this holistic approach and is therefore – alongside independent validation – a central part of any credible corporate strategy for a resilient and sustainable future.
