March, 20 – Washington DC

Engaging more stakeholders and more effectively communicating the importance of sustainable water management are key to ensuring future water security, participants agreed during a one-day conference organized by the World Water Council (WWC). 

“A huge challenge lies ahead of us: we must invent our water future together,” WWC President Benedito Braga said at the event, “Water Security: A Pathway to Sustainable Development,” held in Washington, DC on March 20th ahead of World Water Day 2015.

“To succeed, we need the political decision-makers and the international community to come together to implement changes,” Braga said. “Through investment in water security, we will guarantee security in most other domains, including energy, environment, food, and health.”

As negotiations over the new Sustainable Development Goals, which replace the Millennium Development Goals that expire this year, move into the home stretch, “we must concentrate and mobilize all our efforts to make sure water is appreciated, not only as an end in itself, but as a means for sustainable development as a whole,” Braga said.

“The year 2015 is not an opportunity the world can afford to miss. There is no time to waste.”

But panelists agreed that the water community has not done as effective a job as it could to communicate why policy- and decision-makers should prioritize water.

They also agreed that more work is needed to bring all stakeholders to the table in discussions of water security.

“We have been trying for 40 years to get water to rise up on the political stage,” said Zafar Adeel, director of the United Nations University-Institute for Water Environment and Health. Water has had to “ride in on the coattails of food and energy, because that’s where it’s easier to see monetization.”

Adeel said the private sector has an important role to play in addressing water challenges. It can bring in needed capital resources; is better geared to scaling up from the local to the national level; and is better at applying appropriate technologies and partnering with stakeholders to determine what works and what the market responds to.

But as Anders Berntell, Executive Director of the 2030 Water Resources Group, noted, the private sector is one of the actors often left out of discussions on Integrated Water Resources Management.

John Oldfield, CEO of NGO WASH Advocates, stressed the need to get finance ministers and prime ministers, rather than just water ministers and presidents, invested in solving the global water and sanitation crisis. He cited recent work by the World Bank and US national intelligence agencies, which respectively made a case for the high economic costs of poor sanitation and water as a national security issue, as examples of the kind of work needed.

Other participants noted that cultivating political will to address water challenges can be a question of providing the right kind of data to decision-makers.

Berntell said his organization is trying to do just that. “With statistics and figures, the government does take action,” he said.

John Tubbs, Director of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, noted that there is often a “disconnect between science and policy … Science needs to recognize what [kind of data] policy needs.”

Richard Damania, Global Lead, Economics, at the World Bank Water Global Practice, said the links between water and climate change are “very deep,” and “if you don’t get management of water right for changing climate, there will be economic repercussions”.

But “We haven’t done a good job of communicating this,” he said.

WWC President Braga said he saw growing political will for a standalone water SDG, and was “confident” that there would be financial resources to back political commitments to solving global water problems.

“If you have good projects, money will come through the government and private sectors,” he said.

He said as part of its efforts to continue engaging stakeholders in discussions on water and sustainability, the WWC has reached out to the agricultural sector and to hydropower producers.

The WWC has signed a memorandum of understanding with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to promote more efficient water use in irrigation, and is also working with agribusiness and farmers’ unions to promote balanced water use at the river basin level, Braga said.

“I have the expectation that during the (World Water Forum) in Korea, agricultural water use will be more important,” he added.

The 7th World Water Forum will be held from April 12-17 in Daegu-Gyeongbuk, South Korea.

2030 WRG is co-organizing a Multi-Stakeholder Engagement on Water Resources Management in Bangladesh on 18 March, 2015. The event will be jointly hosted by the Water Resources Planning Organization of the Ministry of Water Resources. Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud and State Minister Muhammad Nazrul Islam (Bir Protik) from the Ministry of Water Resources are among the invited high-level delegates.

The event is a follow-up on the High Level Dialogue held earlier on October 18, 2014 and aims to present the recommendations of the analytical studies and bring high-level stakeholders from the government, private sector and civil society together to discuss potential next steps towards initiating a 2030 WRG program to address water security and resource management issues.

 

New York, February 23, 2015 – PepsiCo and PwC US are the recipients of the 15th annual CECP Excellence Awards. The Chairman’s Award, the award category for companies with revenues of $20B and more, was presented to PepsiCo for its Safe Water Access program. This initiative prioritizes clean water as a key building block for ending world poverty. 2030 WRG is proud to partner with PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation as one of the six strategic water partners to offer sustainable, game-changing solutions.

“Global companies are judged not only by the shareholder value they create, but also by the positive contributions they make to society. Great companies think in terms of quarters and generations to create value for all stakeholders,” said Indra K. Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo. “Water is both a precious resource and a human right. All around the world, we have significantly reduced PepsiCo’s water usage and operating costs through conservation, while also greatly expanding access to clean water in our communities. PepsiCo’s commitment to water stewardship is a great example of aligning the needs of business with the needs of society, and it’s emblematic of the way we do business around the world.”

Doubled the goal

In 2010, PepsiCo announced its commitment to provide access to safe water for 3 million people by 2015, focusing specifically on water conservation, distribution, purification, and sanitation in countries across the world. PepsiCo has exceeded in its original commitment and doubled the goal to six million people by 2015.

Invaluable support and commitment

“I would like to congratulate Pepsico on the CECP Chairman’s Excellence Award. We are excited to have joined hands with PepsiCo to deliver access to safe water through our partnership program,” said 2030 WRG Executive Director Anders Berntell. “The PepsiCo Foundation has supported 2030 WRG since our inception at the World Economic Forum in 2011. The support and commitment from the PepsiCo Foundation has been invaluable to the progress and success of 2030 WRG initiatives in Peru, Mexico, Jordan, Tanzania, South Africa, India, the Indian states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, and Mongolia. Local PepsiCo representatives contribute to the development of national and regional programs and projects that are important for the improved management and better use of water resources.”

About CECP

CECP, the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, is a coalition of over 150 CEOs across all industries, who believe that societal improvement is an essential measure of business performance. Presented annually since 2000, their award program is juried by an external Selection Committee comprised of representatives from the corporate, nonprofit, consulting, media, and academic communities. The award winning companies were chosen by an independent jury as global leaders in corporate societal investment, exemplifying the Award’s four rigorous Standards of Excellence: CEO leadership, partnership, dedication to measurement, and innovation.

More information

See the press release about the award on the CECP website

See the Delivering Access to Safe Water through Partnerships report

For Tweets please tag: @2030WRG @PepsiCo @CECPTweets #CECPwinningpurpose

 

About 2030 WRG

The 2030 WRG emerged in 2009 through an informal collaboration between the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Economic Forum (WEF), multilateral and bilateral agencies (Swiss Development Corporation), private sector companies (Nestlé, PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company), and other organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

 

A recent November workshop focused on deliberating financing solutions for drip irrigation in the sugarcane industry. The meeting brought together 60 participants from sugar mills, financial institutions and government. A small follow-up discussion was held on December 5. The discussions are part of a larger initiative to bring together the private and public sectors around the topic of CSR funding to financing drip irrigation in the sugarcane industry.

Joining hands to conserve water in Karnataka

The Indian State Government of Karnataka recently co-published a brochure with 2030 WRG to highlight opportunities for the private sector to collaborate with the government and public institutions specifically on water conservation measures and mobilizing CSR contributions.

Read or download the brochure here