Companies operating in China reported a wide range of negative impacts on their businesses due to water (property damage, brand damage and higher operating costs). However none of the companies have evaluated how water issue will affect operations; nor they report any water related targets or goals or state whether they are exposed to supply chain risk or not. These results are starting in a country struggling with dwindling water supplies and where 70% of fresh water resources are polluted to some degree. Recent scandals have besmirched the reputation of big business. Top clothing brands like Armani, Calvin Klein, Marks and Spencer and Zara have been linked to devastating water pollution in the Chinese textile industry. On a global level, water risks to business are growing, but the willingness of businesses to provide information about these risks has actually fallen. A growing number of companies reported impacts from droughts, pollution and other water related problems, but almost half the companies approached failed to disclose transparent water risk assessments to investors. More companies worldwide are also requiring their suppliers to disclose information about how they are managing water risks. It is striking companies in the energy sector remain the least transparent according to the report, given the widely accepted connections between water and energy. In China, lack of water has forced the closure of coal-fired power stations in arid regions of the country and will constrain growth of alternative energy sources in the future, with effects down supply chains. The few companies in China that did disclose information to CDP did so on the behest of their purchases and their buyers. This shows that in China it is the consumers driving change, rather than investors. The gLAWcal Team EPSEI project Thursday, 6 November 2014 (Source: China Dialogue)