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:

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), EU Drinking Water Directive (Directive 2020/2184/EU), Industrial Emissions Directive (Directive 2010/75/EU), EU Water Resilience Strategy, the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) Regulation (Regulation 1221/2009/EC), UN Watercourses Convention (1997) and UNECE Water Convention (1992).

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.