United Nations CEO Water Mandate
PepsiCo joined the UN CEO Water Mandate in 2007, indicating a very formal and a very visible commitment to the principles of the Mandate. As PepsiCo's representative to the Mandate, I have attended the endorser meetings, which are preceded by a full-day meeting with external stakeholders. In my view, the CEO Water Mandate is perhaps the single most succinct and holistic vehicle to capture how the private sector can partner with other interested parties to help mitigate and adapt to the global water crises.
Excerpt from the United Nations Global Compact website:
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.
See the recent report from the Mandate on Water Reporting Transparency
For more information, click here to link to the Mandate website.