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A programme that encourages the chief executives of large companies to manage their water resources more effectively is scaling down its push for signatories.
The UN Global Compact says it is putting quality before quantity and is now aiming for between 50 and 75 chief executive signatories to its CEO Water Mandate by the end of this year, rather than the original target of ‘hundreds’.
Since the mandate was started with six CEOs by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon last July, a further 18 have signed up, including Franck Riboud of Danone, Paul Walsh of Diageo, Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, and Patrick Cescau of Unilever.
The mandate commits signatories to set up a framework ‘to address the issue of water sustainability’ in six key areas – company operations, supply chains, collaboration with other companies, public policy, community engagement, and transparency.
The decision to reduce the target number of signatories was made at the first annual Water Mandate conference in New York, which took place in March. Gavin Power, head of the mandate, told EP: ‘The group decided to scale back recruitment ... so that we can keep numbers manageable for the first couple of years rather than trying to recruit hundreds before we have a really solid grounding.’
Power said the 50–75 target would represent ‘critical mass’, and would keep the mandate as a ‘leadership initiative’, allowing a more focused approach in the early stages. Initial goals would be ‘to move companies forward, stretch them, and find partnerships with NGOs, governments, and others in terms of action on fresh water access and sanitation’.
Participation is restricted to Compact signatories and those intending to join within six months. It requires the executives to acknowledge they ‘have a responsibility to make water resources management a business imperative’, to work with others to address the emerging global water crisis, and to be comfortable with the ‘mandate as a place that takes on the tough bits’.
The first gathering brought together senior representatives from the companies, five UN agencies and ten civil society groups, including the WWF.
An official report from the conference states: ‘Aggressive recruitment efforts should be put on hold while the group focuses on operational aspects and achievable year-one goals’.
Water is rapidly becoming a key corporate responsibility concern. Earlier this year, 21 food firms agreed that by 2020 they will try to cut water use by a fifth compared with 2007 (EP9, issue 10, p1).
More than 100 civil society groups, including Corporate Accountability International, recently wrote to the Compact Office questioning whether the mandate ‘is a viable solution to the mounting worldwide water crisis’ and suggesting its agenda ‘is to facilitate greater control over water sources and services by for-profit corporations’.
The UN Global Compact says it is putting quality before quantity and is now aiming for between 50 and 75 chief executive signatories to its CEO Water Mandate by the end of this year, rather than the original target of ‘hundreds’.
Since the mandate was started with six CEOs by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon last July, a further 18 have signed up, including Franck Riboud of Danone, Paul Walsh of Diageo, Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, and Patrick Cescau of Unilever.
The mandate commits signatories to set up a framework ‘to address the issue of water sustainability’ in six key areas – company operations, supply chains, collaboration with other companies, public policy, community engagement, and transparency.
The decision to reduce the target number of signatories was made at the first annual Water Mandate conference in New York, which took place in March. Gavin Power, head of the mandate, told EP: ‘The group decided to scale back recruitment ... so that we can keep numbers manageable for the first couple of years rather than trying to recruit hundreds before we have a really solid grounding.’
Power said the 50–75 target would represent ‘critical mass’, and would keep the mandate as a ‘leadership initiative’, allowing a more focused approach in the early stages. Initial goals would be ‘to move companies forward, stretch them, and find partnerships with NGOs, governments, and others in terms of action on fresh water access and sanitation’.
Participation is restricted to Compact signatories and those intending to join within six months. It requires the executives to acknowledge they ‘have a responsibility to make water resources management a business imperative’, to work with others to address the emerging global water crisis, and to be comfortable with the ‘mandate as a place that takes on the tough bits’.
The first gathering brought together senior representatives from the companies, five UN agencies and ten civil society groups, including the WWF.
An official report from the conference states: ‘Aggressive recruitment efforts should be put on hold while the group focuses on operational aspects and achievable year-one goals’.
Water is rapidly becoming a key corporate responsibility concern. Earlier this year, 21 food firms agreed that by 2020 they will try to cut water use by a fifth compared with 2007 (EP9, issue 10, p1).
More than 100 civil society groups, including Corporate Accountability International, recently wrote to the Compact Office questioning whether the mandate ‘is a viable solution to the mounting worldwide water crisis’ and suggesting its agenda ‘is to facilitate greater control over water sources and services by for-profit corporations’.
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