The Carbon Trust has launched a new report urging businesses to prioritise resource efficiency or risk getting left behind - and warns of a possible 40% gap between available water supplies and water needs by 2030.

The report -  Opportunities in a Resource Constrained World – examines the need for businesses to urgently assess their exposure to resource challenges in order to future proof their business models in today’s resource-constrained world.

Business resource challenges such as the increasing scarcity of land, energy, water and materials are quickly intensifying. For example, there could be a 40% gap between available water supplies and water needs by 2030, and some critical materials could be in short supply as soon as 2016.

The Report argues that the challenges remain largely unaddressed, leading to disruptions to supply, growing regulatory requirements, volatile fluctuation of prices, and ultimately, threatening the viability of existing business models.

Conversely, businesses that adapt their business models through assessing their exposure to such resource constraints can identify how to manage the risks and exploit commercial opportunities. In turn this will improve efficiency, strengthen long-term resilience, and drive business returns.

Tom Delay, Chief Executive at the Carbon Trust, said:

“Our report clearly shows that businesses which proactively put sustainability inside their operations have the potential to drive business value by reducing exposure to the resource crunch. To protect our economy, our environment, and the resources available to future generations, we need today’s businesses to recognise the severity of these threats and to adapt their business models for future growth.”

Some of the UK’s leading companies, such as BT and Whitbread, are already working with the Carbon Trust to proactively assess their exposure to resource constraints. The report finds that these organisations are bringing bottom line improvements through efficiency gains, and are also expected to have long term advantages far outweighing the more immediate costs.

The report analyses the key drivers currently motivating businesses to become more resource efficient, including competitive differentiation, industry leadership and delivery of savings and new growth opportunities.

The organisations include:

Bord Bia, which is helping farmers in Ireland identify actions that deliver financial and environmental improvements and maintain the industry’s leading position in Europe

Whitbread, which through identifying new opportunities for sustainable growth in the business, gained the confidence to invest £4m p.a. in energy and resource efficiency

Stagecoach, which, through its focus on sustainability and resource efficiency has decreased its carbon intensity by 30% for each pound of turnover in 2012/13, compared to a 2007/08 base case

BT, which help its customers reduce carbon emissions by at least three times the end-to-end impact of its business, and also drive energy efficiency and carbon reduction throughout the supply chain

Chris George, Head of Energy and Environment at Whitbread, commented:

“As consumers become more discerning it’s not enough to do the bare minimum when it comes to sustainability.  We see our sustainability strategy as an opportunity, not a compliance exercise, both in terms of future revenue growth and protecting existing value. The consumer of 2014 is as likely to identify water, waste and depleting resources as carbon when talking about sustainability.”

“ A comprehensive understanding of and engagement with all of these issues should therefore be a crucial part of any business’s core strategy and this is a prime reason why Whitbread has been motivated to work with the Carbon Trust to understand our impact, set meaningful targets, and take action to become more sustainable. This has resulted in us being one of the first companies to achieve all three Carbon Trust Standards for carbon, water, and waste reduction.”

Click here to download the report in full.