Water is fast becoming a greater risk in company supply chains, with one in five companies now reporting significant water-related supply chain risks and tens of billions of dollars in value at stake.

To this end, global responsible use organisation the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) has launched a new version of its global water standard that gives companies a practical way to turn water from a rising liability to a managed asset.

AWS’s ‘Version 3.0’ International Water Stewardship Standard comes ahead of the UN World Water Day on March 22 and is already being used or considered by companies such as Apple, Samsung, Audi, Unilever, The Coca Cola Company and Nestlé.

The new standard is aligned with the EU’s mandatory Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive regulation, as well as the European Sustainability Reporting Standard E3. It has been designed to meet investor expectations on credible, decision-useful water disclosures, the alliance says.

“As regulation and investors tighten the screw on water disclosures, UN World Water Day is a global moment to remind corporates to turn water stewardship claims into independently verified action,” AWS states.

The organisation says water risks are accelerating globally, with floods, droughts and water pollution increasingly impacting on production, logistics and communities. This while a growing share of global GDP is generated in regions facing high water risk.

“Environmental risks, including extreme weather and ecosystem decline, remain among the most severe global threats over the next decade.

“With water risks threatening to undermine business continuity, AWS Standard 3.0 provides a practical and trusted framework for companies in any sector to act on those risks, work with others in their catchments and, through third-party certification, show investors and other stakeholders that their claims of good water stewardship are real,” explains AWS CEO Adrian Sym.

Certification under the new AWS standard is carried out by independent third-party auditors, with certified sites having reported benefits of improved relationships with local communities and authorities, increased investor confidence, enhanced brand reputation, better water quality and balance, groundwater recharge, new habitats, and lower costs through reduced water use and greater efficiency.

According to International Union for Conservation of Nature water and wetlands global director James Dalton healthy rivers, aquifers and wetlands are critical natural infrastructure for climate resilience, food security and human wellbeing.

He says that, by aligning corporate action with catchment-scale priorities, AWS Standard 3.0 can help businesses contribute to restoring and protecting these systems while also managing their own risks and dependencies on water.

For WaterAid senior private sector adviser Emma Clarke, the new standard offers clearer and more streamlined requirements, as well as stronger alignment with climate resilience and catchment health, which enable organisations to deliver more reliable, equitable and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene outcomes for communities.

Having reviewed the prior Version 2.0 of the standard in 2023, AWS set out to conduct two rounds of global public consultation and received more than 3 000 comments from more than 100 organisations and individuals.

The revised Standard 3.0 was adopted by AWS members in December 2025, with 93% of members having voted in favour of the new standard.

World Wide Fund for Nature global water stewardship lead Alexis Morgan says they are already seeing the impacts of climate change through water – from disappearing rivers and wetlands to more frequent floods and droughts – therefore, the new AWS standard can help companies move beyond narrow water efficiency and look at the whole catchment to help safeguard freshwater ecosystems.

Morgan adds that the new standard refines the current gold standard for water stewardship by streamlining requirements and strengthening alignment with other sustainability priorities such as local collaboration, clear governance structures and measurable impact.

AWS says the new standard is more pragmatic, with reduced complexity and clearer definitions of minimum expectations, as well as serving as a more accessible starting point for companies that are new to water stewardship.

The new standard is also better integrated with broader sustainability agendas, such as new requirements to understand climate impact and build resilience, and links more strongly to corporate-level reporting and disclosure.

AWS calls on companies, investors and financial institutions in all regions to put water at the centre of their climate and nature strategies.