Percentage of total emissions of pollutants to water occurring in areas at water risk and/or of high-water stress

Unit

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: Percentage (%)

Indicator

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: Pollutants released to environment

Metric type

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: Pressure

Framework alignment notes

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ESRS E2-4 AR 23c
AWS 1.5.4 Water quality, including physical, chemical, and biological status, of the catchment shall be identified, and where possible, quantified. Where there is a water-related challenge that would be a threat to good water quality status for people or environment, an indication of annual, and where appropriate, seasonal, high and low variances shall be identified. AWS 1.3.4 Water quality of the site’s water source(s), provided waters, effluent and receiving water bodies shall be quantified. Where there is a water-related challenge that would be a threat to good water quality status for people or environment, an indication of annual, and where appropriate, seasonal, high and low variances shall be quantified AWS 1.3.5 Potential sources of pollution shall be identified and if applicable, mapped, including chemicals used or stored on site.
CDP Water Security W1.2k Provide details of your organization's emissions of nitrates, phosphates, pesticides, and other priority substances to water in the reporting year.
ISO 14046 - data describing water quality (including for water withdrawal, release and water receiving body) emissions to air, water and soil that impact water quality

Target example
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[Company name] will reduce emissions of [pollutant type] to water in areas of water risk and high water stress by [target percentage]% by [target year], compared with a baseline of [baseline percentage]% in [baseline year].

Target source: WBCSD target template

Metric assessment

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Relevance: High

Feasibility: Low

Additional Metric Notes
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ACT-D stage: Assess Maturity stage: Developing Metric Contribution to Action: Tracking emissions in water-stressed areas enables targeted interventions that advance both site and catchment-level water stewardship toward best practices through continuous system improvement. Observations/Successes/Challenges: > Defining “water risk” is complex as water risk varies by scale (local vs. basin-wide), seasonality, and user demand, making standardization difficult. > The same mass of pollutants (e.g., nitrates vs. heavy metals) can have different impacts on water quality, but this metric treats all emissions equally. > Sometimes difficult to measure emissions if going to an unsophisticated central effluent plant > Emissions from sludge disposal are less known and often difficult to measure > Effective use and communication of this metric depend on multi-stakeholder engagement to ensure data veracity, contextual relevance, and collective progress toward risk and impact mitigation.

Related actions

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Prevent pollution or contamination of water bodies

Prevent pollution or contamination of water bodies

Description