Number of fines and financial cost of all water-related fines
Unit
Indicator
Metric type
Framework alignment notes
Target example
[Company name] will reduce the number and cost of water related fines in [basin] to 0 by [target year].
Target source: WBCSD target template
Metric assessment
Relevance: Low
Feasibility: High
Additional Metric Notes
ACT-D stage
Disclose
Maturity stage
Developing
Metric Contribution to Action
Tracking fines reveals areas of non-compliance, driving policy improvements to reduce regulatory violations.
Observations, Successes and Challenges
- Provides a straightforward way to measure compliance with water regulations.
- A company may have no fines but still contribute to water pollution, over-extraction, or ecosystem degradation.
- Fines vary widely depending on local environmental laws, making cross-border comparisons difficult.
- Some companies may settle water-related issues out of court, avoiding fines that would otherwise be publicly disclosed.
- Doesn’t account for voluntary remediation efforts