Mapping our water risk

Preparing for a world where water is increasingly scarce helps us build a more resilient business and better support the communities whose natural resources we share. In 2020, we worked closely with WWF to gain a better understanding of water risk.

We assessed 81 of our majority-owned breweries across Europe and Asia using WWF’s leading Water Risk Filter tool. This assessment – the most detailed we have ever conducted – enabled us to rank sites by risk level, so we can plan interventions accordingly.

The results showed that none of our breweries currently face high risks to their ability to operate. However, 17 breweries were identified as being in high-risk areas, spread across nine major river basins in Asia. Together, these breweries account for 17% of our global production volume.

Climate and water risks are closely connected, especially for businesses like ours that depend on reliable water supply in many parts of the world. And we worked with WWF on a ground-breaking addition to its Water Risk Filter – forward-looking scenarios to help us better understand our global water risk in a changing climate.

We were the first multinational to test and use the tool, which enables businesses to explore scenarios for 2030 and 2050 based on current trends as well as both optimistic and pessimistic alternatives. The findings on likely changes in water availability and quality will help us evaluate future risks to our breweries and how we can best prepare. WWF has now incorporated the scenarios into its water risk tool, used by thousands of companies globally.

Mapping water risk for our breweries and local communities will help us work towards our 2022 goal to explore reducing water use below 2.0 hl/hl at all high-risk breweries and prioritise local partnerships to protect shared water sources.