A strong data foundation is essential for CDP Water Security disclosure – but knowing where to find the right data or who holds it is a real challenge for many organisations.
Without data providing clear visibility and insight, companies risk falling behind on evolving CDP requirements and missing opportunities to mitigate risk and unlock new business insight.
In both 2023 and 2024, Water Accounting and Targets, the most data-intensive categories, carried the highest weighting for Leadership and Management points. This trend underscores CDP’s increasing focus on data-driven disclosures for A-List candidates, making high-quality water data more critical than ever.
To keep pace, businesses must build a clear, accurate picture of their water use – both within their operations and across supply chains. This means tracking and verifying key metrics, such as:
- Total water withdrawals and consumption, by source
- Water stress levels at operational sites, contextualised by external data
- Percentage of withdrawals from high-risk or over-abstracted areas
- Financial risks linked to water scarcity and mitigation strategies
Yet, finding water data in the right format and granularity, ensuring its traceability back to the source is no small task. Many organisations grapple with fragmented data spread across multiple platforms, making consolidation and verification complex. Without a clear governance structure, reporting can become inconsistent, putting transparency and accuracy at risk.
Engaging internal stakeholders is key to overcoming this challenge. Water data is rarely housed in one place. It’s most often scattered across facilities management, supply chain teams, finance departments, and sustainability offices. Bringing these teams together under a structured data governance framework streamlines reporting, strengthens accountability, and ensures compliance with CDP’s evolving requirements.
Beyond disclosure, companies must integrate water security into financial planning. The CDP Global Water Report (2022) revealed that businesses faced a staggering $392 billion in financial impacts from water-related risks – yet only a fraction had response plans in place.
$392 billion in financial impacts from water-related risks
The CDP Global Water Report (2022)
What it takes to achieve an A in Water Security
For organisations aiming for top-tier CDP recognition and Leadership points in water accounting, measuring all water metrics across 100% of their sites will be essential. However, for larger businesses with operations spanning multiple regions, collecting data at this level of detail can be a significant challenge, often becoming a barrier to achieving the highest scores.
CDP continually raises the bar for what qualifies as best practice in water security, reflecting the latest scientific insights and market expectations. Organisations must not only meet current standards but demonstrate continual progress to maintain or achieve an A rating.
Organisations aiming for an ‘A’ in CDP Water Security can take actions such as:
- Demonstrate executive-level governance by embedding water security into core business strategy.
- Set measurable, science-based water targets to optimise withdrawals and enhance efficiency.
- Engage in meaningful water stewardship initiatives to positively impact local water resources and communities.
- Ensure full data transparency and independent verification, strengthening investor and stakeholder trust.
- Prove financial integration of water risks, ensuring water security is a fundamental part of business resilience planning.
Achieving an A rating requires companies to move beyond compliance and into leadership, innovation, and a commitment to measurable progress.
Build a strong data foundation with Waterscan
Waterscan’s data-driven CDP solutions, backed by our expertise in sustainable water management, empower businesses at every stage of their disclosure journey.
Whether you’re starting out on your CDP water journey or aiming for the CDP A-List, our offerings ensure you receive the guidance that’s right for your business.
Get in touch with our experts today or read more about our CDP offerings.
