Posted on 17 November
2010
Around the world, freshwater supplies are
under siege. Polluted, wasted and altered
by climate change, the resource that supports
life on Earth is in trouble. For WWF, protecting
freshwater ecosystems is part of our mission
to create harmony between people and nature.
For businesses, dabbling in freshwater
conservation has largely been a philanthropic
endeavor.
But that has changed
in recent years, as companies have awakened
to a simple fact: There is no business without
water.
The CEO Water Mandate
was created to help companies take action
to protect their interests by protecting
freshwater. “No one wants to be associated
with dead fish in a dry river,” says Stuart
Orr, WWF International Freshwater Manager.
“WWF can help companies address water issues
from an environmental perspective, and the
CEO Water Mandate can help them take it
further by advocating for long-term policy
solutions that benefit business, communities
and nature.”
A focal point of the
group’s sixth working conference in Cape
Town, South Africa, was the launch of the
“Guide to Responsible Business Engagement
with Water Policy.” Orr, co-author of the
guide, says it’s a framework to turn risk
into opportunity. “Innovative partnerships
at the local level are yielding important
changes. Instead of guarding these successes
like trade secrets, companies in the CEO
Water Mandate are sharing lessons for the
greater good.”
But these companies
aren’t motivated by altruism alone.
“We make no apology
for being very business focused in our approach
to water issues, because that’s what guarantees
our serious involvement,” says Andy Wales,
Head of Sustainable Development for SABMiller,
one of the world’s largest breweries.
Wales says it’s the
willingness of companies to feed experience
from the field into products like the responsible
engagement guide that makes the CEO Water
Mandate work. “Right from the start, the
CEO Water Mandate has been action focused.
Some people say, ‘You only have 70 companies
signed on.’ For me, a group of 70 companies
that are genuinely committed, really pushing
things forward and prepared to test new
ideas, learn and debate is much more powerful
than a group of 250 companies that sign
up and do nothing,” he says.
The new guide offers
a principled approach for companies to collaborate
with communities and governments on water
policy, which may include water prices,
quality standards and safeguards against
pollution, and construction and maintenance
of water infrastructure.
Phakamani Buthelezi,
CEO of the Breede-Overberg Catchment Management
Agency near Cape Town, says the guide can
help both industry and government combat
the perception that companies are more interested
in the bottom line than social good. “Partnerships
with organizations like WWF and industry
are important to make a difference. But
in making a difference, we should not dictate
to people how things will happen. It has
to be an inclusive process. They should
have a say, so they also own the process.
It’s about co-ownership and co-responsibility,”
says Buthelezi.
As pressures on freshwater
resources mount, the consensus across the
diverse industries represented within the
CEO Water Mandate is clear: tackling water
issues is not optional, it’s imperative.
