Version and legal reference: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563 of 3 July 2026 (OJ L 2026/1563 of 21.9.2026)
ESRS E3 – WATER
Table of contents9 entries
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Impact, risk and opportunity management
Disclosure Requirement E3-1 – Policies related to water
Disclosure Requirement E3-2 – Actions and resources related to water
Objective
1. The objective of this Standard is to set out Disclosure Requirements (DRs) related to water, particularly with respect to the sub-topics specified in paragraph 6 of this Standard. If not all the sub-topics prescribed by this Standard are to be reported following the materiality assessment, paragraph 30 of ESRS 1 General Requirements applies.
2. The sustainability statement shall provide information in relation to ESRS E3 Water if this topic relates to material impacts, risks and opportunities. Such information shall cover all the reporting areas listed in paragraph 5 of ESRS 1 General Requirements.
3. The DRs in this Standard complement the provisions in ESRS 2 General Disclosures, which require the undertaking to disclose information about topics related to material impacts, risks and opportunities, in particular:
ESRS 2 SBM 3 Interaction of material impacts, risks and opportunities with strategy and business model, and financial effects; and
ESRS 2 IRO 2 Material impacts, risks and opportunities and disclosure requirements included in the sustainability statement.
4. In this Standard, each DR is introduced by a disclosure objective, except for policies, actions and targets, for which the provisions in ESRS 2 General Disclosures GDR-P, GDR-A and GDR-T provide the necessary framing for the relevant DRs.
5. This Standard takes account of EU regulatory frameworks and other relevant frameworks, including EU Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1, ELI: http:/
6. This Standard sets out DRs with respect to the following sub-topics: water use, which includes water withdrawal; water consumption; water discharge and water stored.
7. Water encompasses freshwater and other types of water, for example brackish water, from different sources, such as surface water, groundwater, seawater, produced water and third-party water.
8. Context-specific considerations are particularly important in relation to water. If material impacts, risks or opportunities are connected to specific geographies, it is important to consider appropriate aggregation or disaggregation of the reported information, e.g. by site, basin, area with water stress or any other level in accordance with ESRS 1 General Requirements, Chapter 3.3.2 Level of Aggregation, Disaggregation.
Interaction with other ESRS
9. Social and environmental topics interact with each other. The main points of interaction between ESRS E3 Water and the other topical standards are the following.
ESRS E1 Climate Change addresses acute and chronic physical risks which arise from water and ocean-related hazards caused or exacerbated by climate change, including increasing water temperature, changing precipitation patterns and types, precipitation or hydrological variability, ocean acidification, saline intrusion, sea level rise, drought, water stress, heavy precipitation, floods and glacial lake outbursts.
ESRS E2 Pollution addresses the emissions to water, including emissions to seawater, and the manufacturing, use and release of microplastics.
ESRS E4 Biodiversity and Ecosystems addresses impacts on marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity connected to the use of water.
ESRS E5 Resource Use and Circular Economy addresses the type and circularity of resource inflows, including marine resources.
ESRS S3 Affected Communities addresses material impacts on people and communities resulting from the undertaking’s activities related to water, including changes in water availability, quality or access.
Disclosure Requirements
Impact, risk and opportunity management
Disclosure Requirement E3-1 – Policies related to water
10. The undertaking shall disclose its water-related policies in accordance with the provisions of ESRS 2 GDR-P (This information supports the information needs of financial market participants subject to Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 because it is derived from a mandatory indicator related to principal adverse impacts as set out by indicator #7 in Table 2 of Annex I to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288 with regard to disclosure rules on sustainable investments (‘Investments in companies without water management policies’).58).
11. If the undertaking has sites located in areas with water stress that are not covered by its water-related policies, it shall disclose this fact (This information supports the information needs of financial market participants subject to Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 because it is derived from a mandatory indicator related to principal adverse impacts as set out by indicator #8 in Table 2 of Annex I to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288 with regard to disclosure rules on sustainable investments (‘Exposure to areas of high water stress’).59).
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS – ARs
AR 1 for paras. 11, 13, 14 and 16(b) (Water stress) Water stress encompasses quantity or availability (related to water scarcity) together with water quality and accessibility considerations and provides a measure of basin pressure.
Water stress is one component of physical water-related risks, together with other factors not related to water stress, such as flooding and droughts. A comprehensive understanding of water-related risks considers all components of physical water-related risks (e.g. water stress, flooding, droughts) as well as regulatory and reputational water-related risks.
AR 2 for paras. 11, 13, 14 and 16(b) (Areas with water stress) Global indicators (with associated datasets) and related thresholds to assess if an area is with water stress include:
baseline water stress – equal to or greater than ‘High’: 40–80 %;
water depletion – greater than ‘High’: 25–75 % (Seasonal);
baseline water depletion – equal to or greater than ‘High’: 50–75 %; and
WEI+ (Water Exploitation Index plus) – equal to or greater than 40 %.
While these global indicators account for water stress in terms of the quantity of water resource available (related to water scarcity), a comprehensive assessment of water stress encompasses all its dimensions (quantity, quality and accessibility).
The assessment whether an area is exposed to water stress is typically done at the basin level as a minimum. Tailored methodologies may be used to assess whether an area is exposed to water stress and may leverage local knowledge.
Disclosure Requirement E3-2 – Actions and resources related to water
12. The undertaking shall disclose its key water-related actions and resources allocated to their implementation in accordance with the provisions of ESRS 2 GDR-A.
13. The undertaking shall specify key actions and resources related to areas with water stress.
Metrics and targets
Disclosure Requirement E3-3 – Targets related to water
14. The undertaking shall disclose its water-related targets in accordance with the provisions of ESRS 2 GDR-T.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS – ARs
AR 3 for para. 14 (Targets on areas with water stress) In line with the scope considerations set out in ESRS 2 GDR-T, paragraph 51(c), the undertaking shall, where relevant, express water-related targets with reference to specific geographic areas, such as areas with water stress.
Disclosure Requirement E3-4 – Water metrics
15. The objective of this DR is to enable users to understand the undertaking’s water performance.
16. The undertaking shall disclose the following water metrics for its own operations:
total water consumption;
total water consumption in areas with water stress;
total water withdrawal;
total water discharge;
total water stored.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS – ARs
AR 4 for para. 16 (Water metrics) Water consumption (C) can be measured directly, modelled, estimated or calculated by subtracting total water discharge (D) from total water withdrawal (W) during the reporting period: C = W – D.
AR 5 for para. 16 (Water metrics units) Water metrics under paragraph 16(a)–(f) shall be presented in cubic metres (m3) or multiples thereof.
Footnotes
(56) Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1, ELI: http:/
(57) Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on the quality of water intended for human consumption (OJ L 435, 23.12.2020, p. 1, ELI: http:/
(58) This information supports the information needs of financial market participants subject to Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 because it is derived from a mandatory indicator related to principal adverse impacts as set out by indicator #7 in Table 2 of Annex I to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288 with regard to disclosure rules on sustainable investments (‘Investments in companies without water management policies’).
(59) This information supports the information needs of financial market participants subject to Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 because it is derived from a mandatory indicator related to principal adverse impacts as set out by indicator #8 in Table 2 of Annex I to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288 with regard to disclosure rules on sustainable investments (‘Exposure to areas of high water stress’).
(60) This information supports the information needs of financial market participants subject to Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 because it is derived from a mandatory indicator related to principal adverse impacts as set out by indicator #6.2 in Table 2 of Annex I to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288 with regard to disclosure rules on sustainable investments (‘Weighted average percentage of water recycled and reused by investee companies’).