WAVE: Water Stewardship Verified

What is the methodology?

1. Understand water uses, impacts & risks
2. Approve a corporate water stewardship policy
3. Prioritize sites where water-related risks can be mitigated
4. Communicate corporate action plan, goals & timeline

Credit: The Water Council

Why participate in the WAVE program?

• Advance your efforts to a more holistic water stewardship approach
• Ensure your organization better understands and prioritizes its water challenges and risks
• Confidently communicate your corporate water stewardship in external reporting
• Use the WAVE program mark to promote your achievements
• Assure investors, customers and stakeholders that your processes are credibly verified

Why work with SCS?

SCS has completed design, implementation, and certification of water stewardship projects for the food and beverage industry, agriculture and manufacturing. We have certified over 30% of the AWS water stewardship sites globally. By choosing SCS as your responsible water partner you will benefit from:

• The most experienced team from planning through implementation
• Customized services for every step of the water stewardship journey: consultation, technical advisory, pre-assessment, gap analysis, and verification
• Multilingual training and specialized webinars tailored for your company’s needs

Why is ESG important?

Growing concerns over how climate change, environmental degradation, resource depletion, and threats to supply-chain resilience affect corporate brand value have compelled investors, asset managers, and ratings agencies to reward more strategic corporate performance on a range of sustainability issues, including water.

Why make a commitment to an ESG based water stewardship program like WAVE?

The growing ESG reporting movement has pressured companies to move well beyond non-substantive glossy reports as investors and other key stakeholders increasingly expect companies to make measurable progress on environmental priorities.

Is independent verification of the WAVE program required?

Yes. Upon successful completion of the WAVE program, all participants will be independently verified by SCS Global Services. This provides credibility to investors and with the public.

Does this program only serve large public companies or can it assist small to medium private businesses?

While not always immediately evident, water is a critical resource for nearly every business in every industry. From food and beverage, chemical and personal care, to general manufacturing, parts suppliers, hospitality and more; the availability of clean freshwater is critical to a business’ operations and profitability.

What is the public claim that my company can make once completing the program?

Obtaining the credible independent verification of water stewardship efforts at the corporate level is critical for a company to help avoid being labeled as “greenwashing.” Verified participants will be able to share the claim statement:

[COMPANY NAME] conforms to The Water Council’s WAVE (Water Stewardship Verified) (Version 1.0, January 2022). This corporation has assessed water-related risk across the enterprise, identified the highest water-related impacts using credible water-related data, and implemented best practice in improving water stewardship performance.