11.3.4 Corporate initiatives for a shared water managment

Recent business initiatives have been developed to support sustainable water management. For example, public-private initiative the ' CEO Water Mandate' launched at the 2007 UN Global Leadership Forum. Some ofthe world's largest companies urged their business peers everywhere to take immediate action to address the emerging global water crisis. The project is designed to help companies better manage water use in their direct operations and throughout their supply chains. It asks companies to make progress in six areas: direct operations, supply chain and watershed management, collective action, public policy, community engagement, and transparency. More specifically, endorsers of the initiative (50 by mid 2010) pledge to set water-use targets, assist suppliers with water-efficiency practices and partner with governments, policy makers and community groups to address water shortages and sanitation, and to share experiences with the ultimate aim of advancing best practices in the field of water management (UN Global Compact, 2008).1 A 'Transparency Framework' is being developed that will provide endorsers with a compilation and analysis of innovative practices and common approaches for reporting on water management and performance.

Another initiative is the ' Water Initiative' launched in 2003 by the World Economic Forum, in association with UNEP. It is a programme intended to promote public-private partnerships on water projects and responsible management of watersheds. The aim is to create multi-stakeholder networks, comprised of businesses, NGOs, international organisations, and governments, that facilitate cooperation on water projects that are well-developed, bankable, with appropriate leadership and financing plans. To date, the initiative has focused on creating water partnerships in India and South Africa (CERES, 2009, p. 50).

Besides the previous two initiatives, in 2007 the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) also announced that it was concerned about water issues (WBCSD, 2005 and 2007). As a result, tt introduced the 'Global Water Tool', the emphasis of which is on reporting and risk assessment. This tool will be discussed in section 11.3.5.