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Ceres Releases Water Risk Disclosure Search Tool

Ceres has released a new search tool that enables users to access water risk disclosures in company filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).The SEC Sustainability Disclosure Search tool allows users to find disclosures in 4,500 U.S. companies’ annual filings relating to water availability, scarcity, quality, pollution, regulation and innovation. The tool covers 10-K filings from 2009 to the present and helps stakeholders, including investors, companies, academics and analysts, better understand how businesses are measuring, managing and disclosing material water risks and opportunities.

By Mike Hower | Published 9 years ago | About a 2 minute read

Ceres has released a new search tool that enables users to access water risk disclosures in company filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC Sustainability Disclosure Search tool allows users to find disclosures in 4,500 U.S. companies’ annual filings relating to water availability, scarcity, quality, pollution, regulation and innovation. The tool covers 10-K filings from 2009 to the present and helps stakeholders, including investors, companies, academics and analysts, better understand how businesses are measuring, managing and disclosing material water risks and opportunities.

To illustrate, a new Ceres/CookESG analysis, derived from the tool, shows that about half of the 433 California-based public companies in the Russell 3000 Index provided disclosures about water risk. Four water utilities offered the most detailed disclosures, followed by two property developers securing water rights and developing water resources in the state. All of these disclosures cover the drought and its impact on their business, the analysis shows,

As California’s drought drags on, water risks increasingly are being recognized by business leaders, investors and policymakers. Tool’s such as Ceres’ can go a long way to create the accountability structures needed to make sure companies are managing water assets in a sustainable way, while also revealing how these practices impact the bottom line and the environment.

Ceres recently partnered with the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, to provide a guidebook for U.S. institutional investors on engaging with companies and policymakers on sustainability issues. It includes tactics and case studies from 37 engagement experts spanning six countries.

Mike Hower

Founder & Principal Consultant, Hower Impact

Mike Hower is the founder of Hower Impact — a boutique consultancy delivering best-in-class strategic communication advisory and support for corporate sustainability, ESG and climate tech.

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