Corporate water stewardship

The aim of this paper is to provide an exploratory review of the extent to which some of the world’s leading food and drinks companies are publicly addressing water stewardship as part of their corporate sustainability strategies. The paper begins with brief outlines of the challenges of sustainable water resource management and of corporate water stewardship. The paper draws its empirical material from the most recent information on water stewardship and the sustainability reports posted on the Internet by a small number of the world’s leading food and drinks companies. The findings reveal that the selected companies address a number of elements concerning water stewardship as part of their more general approach to corporate sustainability. However, corporate commitments to water stewardship can be interpreted as being driven as much by business imperatives as by any concerns for environmental sustainability or a desire to maintain the viability and integrity of natural ecosystems. More critically, the authors suggest that the selected companies’ commitments to water stewardship are predominantly framed within existing business models focused on technological improvements in eco-efficiency and continuing economic growth. The paper provides an accessible review of the water stewardship issues currently being pursued by some of the world’s leading food and drinks companies and as such it will interest academics, students, political commentators and business managers interested in water stewardship and corporate sustainability. © 2015, AESS.