WASHINGTON — Major corporations in water-guzzling industries such as clothing, food, beverage and technology want to be better stewards of the freshwater they use — especially asintensified by climate change threaten their supply chains. But of 72 companies ranked by a sustainability nonprofit over the past year, few are close to achieving their 2030 targets.
None of the companies scored above 70% of the points available. Almost a dozen scored well enough to be rated “On Track” to meeting the goals, with at least 50% scores. Tech companies like Amazon and Apple, meanwhile, need large amounts of water to cool the computers in their sprawling data centers. Both companies checked in below 20% progress toward their goals. The report didn’t detail companies' performances on the various indicators.
“We are seeing that there are challenges in getting ingredients out of the ground when these extreme weather events are hitting our key sourcing regions,” said Melendez. She cited freezing and thawing that has hurt the company’s sourcing of sugar beets and drought that has hit its oats supply.