Water Sustainability
As the Human Development Report 2006 states: "The global crisis in water consigns large segments
of humanity to lives of poverty, vulnerability and insecurity". Indeed, this is a crisis affecting
not only communities and governments. As significant users of water both directly and indirectly,
the private sector has an enormous stake in helping to solve the water crisis in which more than 1
billion people are denied the right to clean water and 2.6 billion people lack access to adequate
sanitation.
On 5-6 July, at the Global Compact Leaders Summit in Geneva, the UN
Secretary-General and a group of committed business leaders officially launched The CEO Water
Mandate, representing both a call to action and a strategic framework for companies seeking
to address the issue of water sustainability in their operations and supply chains. The CEO Water
Mandate is voluntary and aspirational. Nonetheless it represents a commitment to action. Its
structure covers six key areas and is designed to assist companies in developing a comprehensive
approach to water management. The six areas are: Direct Operations; Supply Chain and Watershed
Management; Collective Action; Public Policy; Community Engagement; and Transparency.
The CEO Water Mandate seeks to mobilize a critical mass of companies in all regions of the
world. The initiative will assist endorsers through policy dialogues, facilitation with respect to
partnerships, and the dissemination of existing and new tools as well as other resources.
The initiative requires the endorsement of a company's CEO, which should be communicated via
the Global Compact address provided below. Endorsing companies will be sent information regarding
future activities related to The CEO Water Mandate.
Participation in The CEO Water Mandate is restricted to existing corporate
endorsers of the UN Global Compact. However, companies that are not currently signatories of the UN
Global Compact may endorse The CEO Water Mandate provided they intend to join the UNGC within six
months of endorsing The CEO Water Mandate.
Click
here to access The CEO Water Mandate
Please
click here to access the list of endorsing CEOs
Click
here to access an Op-Ed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: Water is Life
Click
here for the CEO Water Mandate Inaugural Conference Report (March 5-6 2008)
CEO
Water Mandate (Chinese)
Indicate the endorsement of your CEO at globalcompact@un.org
News:
- 7 May 2008 - Business Leaders Urge G8 Governments to Take Action on Emerging Water Crisis
- 4 April 2008 - Conference Report Iaunched: CEO Water Mandate
-
7
March 2008 - CEO Water Mandate Convenes Inaugural Working Conference
For more information contact
Gavin Power
Senior Advisor
powerg@un.org
(Last update 13 May 2008)
