Analyzing the water resources management disclosures of South African SRI-indexed companies

Abstract

Water has been identified as the biggest economic and societal global risk for the next decade by the World Economic Forum's 2015 global risk report. This risk is also pronounced in South Africa with the country facing a water crisis in terms of the scarcity and the quality of water. This necessitates an increase in the efficiency of water management and water consumption by, inter alia, companies. The disclosure of key performance indicators (KPIs) is one of the most effective means for South African companies to communicate their sustainability performance and their impacts on natural capital such as water. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the required KPIs for the reporting and management of water in SRI-indexed JSElisted companies, based on the GRI guidelines. Content analysis as research method was employed to analyze the integrated and sustainability reports of a selected group of SRI-indexed JSE-listed companies. It was found that the KPIs published by such companies lacked comparability and consistency in their disclosure. The recommendations include that companies should make use of an efficiency indicator measuring input in terms of output.