CEOs Issue Global Call to Action on Water Crisis

Tuesday, 10 July, 2007

In an extraordinary call to action, a group of chief executive officers representing some of the world's largest corporations have urged their business peers everywhere to take immediate action to address the emerging global water crisis.

The CEO's of six corporations including Coca-Cola Company, Levi Strauss & Co., Läckeby Water Group, Nestlé S.A., SABMiller, and Suez, have announced their call to action at the 2007 Global Compact Leaders Summit in Geneva, Switzerland. The CEO Water Mandate is a project designed to help companies better manage water use in their direct operations and throughout their supply chains.

"There is huge potential for the private sector to make a real, positive and lasting difference in protecting and preserving fresh-water resources," said E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company.

"We are pleased to come together with other business leaders to endorse the UN Global Compact CEO Water Mandate as another indicator of our desire to establish a truly water-sustainable business on a global scale".

According to the Human Development Report 2006, a water crisis is deepening around the world with more than 1 billion people lacking clean water for drinking, and 2.6 billion lacking sanitation. Water experts predict that the situation will worsen in many parts of the world in the coming decades as a result of factors including urbanization and population growth, increasing food production, changing consumption patterns, industrialization, pollution and climate change.

As the six business leaders state in The CEO Water Mandate: "It is increasingly clear that lack of access to clean water and sanitation in many parts of the world causes great suffering in humanitarian, social, environmental, and economic terms and seriously undermines development goals. The private sector has an important stake in helping to address the water challenge faced by the world today".

The CEO Water Mandate asks companies to make progress in six areas: direct operations, supply chain and watershed management, collective action, public policy, community engagement, and transparency.

More specifically, endorsers of The CEO Water Mandate pledge to set water-use targets, assist suppliers with water-efficiency practices and partner with governments, policy makers and community groups to address water shortages and sanitation.

Related News

Experts respond to WHO sugar recommendations

The World Health Organization has released its guidelines on sugar intake - and they're...

AIFST appoints first CEO

Georgie Aley has been appointed as the first chief executive officer of the Australian Institute...

Importer receives suspended prison sentence for mis-declared meat

A Victorian importer who tried to pass off illegally imported South Korean meat as vegetables has...


  • All content Copyright © 2024 Westwick-Farrow Pty Ltd