According to the first ever integrated profit and loss (IP&L) account published in the water sector, the Australian water utility Yarra Valley Water, created AU$72.4 million of benefits for the environment, its employees and society in 2014/15.
The IP&L is an innovative method for companies to holistically understand and report their environmental, social, employment and financial performance to investors, customers, government and regulators.
The growing global concern over climate change, water scarcity and corporate profits, has meant that it is no longer sufficient for companies just to measure their financial performance. There is a growing consensus that an IP&L can more comprehensively demonstrate the full value a company delivers to society.
The to publish the first IP&L in the global water sector was driven by Yarra Valley Water in order to fully demonstrate its commitment to being a restorative company that creates more value for society than it consumes.
Pat McCafferty, Managing Director of Yarra Valley Water, said:
“The IP&L project has provided a new way of looking at our business activities and the value they contribute holistically to the community we serve. The analysis that Trucost and GIST have provided reinforces our current strategic direction and provides greater insight for planning. This will inevitably help us to make a greater difference to the health and wellbeing of current and future generations.â€
Yarra will use the IP&L to improve its strategic decision making and to prioritise projects that will deliver improved value to customers and the community via a more holistic analysis of social and environmental impacts and benefits.
These projects will include investigating integrated water management opportunities to service the explosion in population growth, the company’s role in community health, and the degree to which it can integrate renewable energy generation such as waste-to-energy into its business.
This is a great start to water companies taking that big step to working towards far more sustainable services and actually working for the communities, present and future, and we can only hope that as many other water companies as possible across the globe will follow this example.
