ESG Water Glossary Memorable Edition 💦

At Aqua Positive, we often meet companies eager to act on water, but overwhelmed by the complexity of the ESG landscape—especially with European directives like CSRD and evolving standards like ESRS.

To help simplify the learning curve and build a shared language, we created a Memorable ESG Water Glossary: 10 essential concepts distilled into one word each, capturing their core meaning.
It’s a tool we use in workshops, onboarding, and strategic alignment across teams—and we’re sharing it here in case it helps others navigating this path.

🔑 Aqua Positive Glossary: One Word per Concept

1. Water Stewardship → Responsibility
    Proactive, context-based governance across operations, value chains, and shared basins.
2. Water Positive → Outcome
    A net-positive water balance—measurable, additional, and regenerative across the value chain.
3. CSRD → Transparency
    Mandatory EU disclosure of ESG impacts, including water dependencies and risks.
4. CSDDD → Diligence
    Due diligence across the full value chain for environmental and human rights impacts.
5. ESRS → Standardization
    The reporting standards under CSRD that define how water must be reported.
6. EU Green Taxonomy → Classification
    Defines which economic activities count as environmentally sustainable (including water).
7. Water Footprint → Value
    Total water use and pollution linked to operations and supply chains.
8. Double Materiality → Intersection
    Where business impact and environmental context meet—both financially and socially.
9. Greenwashing → Deception
    False or exaggerated sustainability claims—especially risky when water is involved.
10. SDGs → Framework
     A global structure for sustainable action—where water supports all 17 goals, not just SDG 6.

🌱 At Aqua Positive, we believe that shared understanding leads to smarter strategies, stronger reporting, and better impact. If you’re working on water strategy, ESG alignment, or sustainability communications, we hope this glossary gives you a starting point—or a moment of clarity.

💬 Got a better one-word definition for one of these? Let’s keep learning together.