American Journal of Environmental Protection, 2013, Vol. 1, No. 4, 120-123 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/env/1/4/8 © Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/env-1-4-8 Corporate Water Footprint: Risks, Opportunities, and Management Options for Sustainable Development N. Petrovic * , M. Cirovic Center for Environmental Management and Sustainable Development, University of Belgrade Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia *Corresponding author: petrovicn@fon.bg.ac.rs Received January 01, 2013; Revised October 25, 2013; Accepted December 03, 2013 Abstract For many companies, freshwater is a basic ingredient for their operations, while effluents may lead to pollution of the local hydrological ecosystem. Initially, public pressure has been the most important reason for sustainable business initiatives, but today many companies recognize that failure to manage the freshwater issue raises risks, including damage to the corporate image, threat of increased regulatory control, financial risks caused by pollution, or insufficient freshwater availability for operations. It is therefore interesting to know the specific water requirements of various consumer goods, particularly the water-intensive ones. This paper discusses specialised water reporting instruments such as the ‘water footprint’ calculation method and demonstrates it's usefulness in measuring and monitoring corporate sustainability. The water footprint analysis can highlight how near or far a company is from being sustainable and identify those aspects that have the greatest negative effect on freshwater and entire environment. Also it can highlights further management options and ways that companies address in their use of freshwater as one of the aspects of sustainable business performance, because today, many companies recognise that proactive environmental management contributes to their profitability and competitiveness in green markets. Keywords: freshwater, sustainable development, water footprint, corporate waterfootprint Cite This Article: N. Petrovic, and M. Cirovic, “Corporate Water Footprint: Risks, Opportunities, and Management Options for Sustainable Development.” American Journal of Environmental Protection 1, no. 4 (2013): 120-123. doi: 10.12691/env-1-4-8. 1. Introduction On the one hand, freshwater of adequate quality is not only a prerequisite for human societies, but also for natural ecosystems that perform functions essential for human existence and life on earth [1]. On the other hand, freshwater is a basic ingredient for many companies’ operations, and effluents may pollute the local hydrological ecosystems. Many companies have addressed these issues and formulated proactive management strategies [2]. A company may face four serious risks related to failure to manage the freshwater issue: damage to the corporate image, the threat of increased regulatory control, financial risks caused by pollution and insufficient freshwater availability for business operations [3, 4]. Further on, responsible businesses are at the heart of society. Companies that understand their links with the communities they operate in, and their impact on the environment, are most likely to prosper in the long-term. At the same time, interests from stakeholders in firms’ environmental performance and sustainable businesses are at an all-time high. There is an increasing recognition that good environmental performance makes good business sense [5] as well as the necessity of applying sustainable development. Sustainable development is a global development management philosophy that aims to conserve the integrity of the Earth’s ecosystems while supporting economic growth and social welfare, and therefore, is linked to ongoing economic growth and development [6]. It was developed by the Brundtland Commission during the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 [7]. Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is from Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report: Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts: the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs. 2. Method Business water accounting is increasingly regarded as an essential part of sustainable corporate performance accounting. Since 2000, indicators for business water