Australian corporate water reporting: past practices and future possibilities

Focusing on water sustainability, this paper reviews recent studies on corporate water-related disclosures in annual reports, discrete sustainability reports and websites. Findings of relatively low levels and quality of reporting are consistent with more general disclosure studies. Further, the mismatch between corporate and environmental boundaries limits the potential efficacy of such reporting. Two possible alternatives to traditional corporate reporting are explored, namely reporting at the catchment level and product labeling, particularly in respect to food. It is suggested that both alternatives hold more promise for improving accountability and reducing water consumption than more traditional notions of sustainability reporting.