Connecting the Drops(A)

Trillium Asset Management has spent the past two years working to encourage some leading companies to address the business, social, and environmental risks posed by increasingly stretched fresh water resources around the world. Now a new study we commissioned from a leading nonpartisan think tank is helping us make that case to companies, the media, and Wall Street.
This week the Pacific Institute released a paper, Freshwater Resources: Managing the Risks Facing the Private Sector, which identifies the growing threat to business from a host of water-related problems. The report recommends ten steps companies can take to reduce their water-related impacts on the environment and local communities, and help protect their operations and their shareholders from business risks related to water. These steps include measuring their current water use; establishing a water policy with specific goals and performance targets; improving water efficiency and conservation efforts; and engaging suppliers, community groups, and outside partners in an open dialogue on the issue. Trillium Asset Management and Calvert Funds partnered to fund the paper and wrote the preface.
The report has gained attention of the financial media, from the Wall Street Journal to CNBC’s Squawkbox, raising wider awareness of this important issue. We’re sharing copies of the report with companies where we’re already engaged in discussions about water risks, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Intel. We’ll also use it to reach out to start dialogue on water issues with a broader set of companies among our holdings and will report more on the progress we make.