High and dry: how water issues are stranding assets

This report highlights how water insecurity impacts companies' financial performance through the stranding of assets, the implications of this for the global financial sector, and the role of disclosure in understanding, identifying, and managing impacts.Water risk factors are already stranding assets throughout the coal, electric utilities, metals & mining, and oil & gas sectors. Water security is no longer a small, plant-level operational issue for companies, but has become a strategic question for senior management.

By collating real-world examples of water-related stranded assets, this report aims to highlight the significance of the water crisis to the finance sector. It examines drivers of water risks and assesses the level of awareness and preparedness that exists across companies in four major sectors: coal, electric utilities, metals & mining, and oil & gas. Using this evidence, the research articulates how these issues could affect the financial performance of companies in the chosen sectors and in turn, the financial institutions financing them. The report concludes with a list of actions financial institutions should take to mitigate these risks and impacts.