2012-3-23   Source: United Nation Global Compact

(Marseille, 12 March 2012) – The UN Global Compact's CEO Water Mandate, in partnership with the Pacific Institute, convened a number of priority dialogues and workshops in Marseille on 11-13 March during the 6th international World Water Forum.

The CEO Water Mandate held three workshops designed to advance projects and initiatives in relation to the following areas:

1. The Water Action Hub. The CEO Water Mandate is currently developing a global Water Action Hub that will assist companies in identifying potential partners for water-related collective action efforts within specific river basins and watersheds. The primary audience for the Hub will be large-scale corporate water users, with a secondary audience being public sector entities, development agencies, and NGOs interested in engaging with others to improve water management at the catchment level. Project partners include the International Business Leaders Forum, Deloitte, and GIZ.
2. Collective Action Guidance. To further advance the area of collective action, the CEO Water Mandate is developing a guidance document that will present best and emerging practices in relation to collaboration and partnerships. The project partner is Ross & Associates.
3. Water and Human Rights. The UN General Assemby and UN Human Rights Council in 2010 affirmed water and sanitation as a basic human right. Having convened numerous meetings on this topic since 2009, the CEO Water Mandate is currently developing operational guidance that will provide insights and case examples regarding practical measures businesses can adopt to respect the right to water and sanitation. The project partner is Shift.
4. Corporate Water Disclosure. Building on its early work in relation to disclosure, the CEO Water Mandate is currently developing global Water Disclosure Guidelines that will seek to advance common approaches to corporate water reporting and disclosure. In doing so, the Guidelines will offer common disclosure metrics that can begin to harmonize practice, and also provide guidance for determining report content relevance and aligning water disclosure to stakeholder expectations. Project partners include the Carbon Disclosure Project, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the World Resources Institute, and the Global Reporting Initiative.

"We are pleased to be advancing all three of these priority workstreams," said Gavin Power, Deputy Director of the UN Global Compact. "The global water challenge is just too large for any one sector to solve alone. Therefore, we must place a premium on collaboration moving forward – uniting business, public authorities, civil society and other interests. The Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum during the Rio+20 Conference in June will be an opportunity to further advance these priority issues."