Corporate Water Stewardship Focus of CEO Water Mandate Conference in Peru
Lima, 9 April 2104 /3BL Media/ – The UN Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate today convened an international water stewardship conference in Lima, Peru – part of a four-day CEO Water Mandate event focusing on corporate water stewardship, collective action and the Post-2015 Development Agenda in relation to water and sanitation challenges in Peru. The conference was attended by approximately 200 senior representatives from the public sector, international and local business, civil society, academia, and other interests.
Opening the meeting, Gavin Power, Deputy Director the UN Global Compact, said: “This conference presents an opportunity to better understand some of the priority water issues facing Peru, how they are incorporated in national planning, and how the corporate water stewardship movement can contribute in positive ways”.
Issues of water stress, lack of access in remote and poor areas, and fresh-water contamination are among the top issues facing Peru – a nation with highly unequal water distribution. The coastal, desert region of Peru, including the capital of Lima, receives just 2 percent of the country’s fresh water, while representing more than 70 percent of Peru’s population. In addition, water quality has been deteriorating in several key river basins, including the Rimac River, which flows through Lima, a city of more than 8 million people.
Gabriel Quijandria, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Environment, addressed the conference stating: “We are at an inflection point in terms of addressing water issues in Peru. While regulation will be important, it will not solve all of our problems. We need collective action, involving the private sector, through initiatives like the CEO Water Mandate, and broader society”.
During the conference – organized in partnership with the Ministry of the Environment, the National Water Authority of Peru, the Global Compact Network in Peru, and Forest Trends – the CEO Water Mandate announced that the Rimac River has been added to the Mandate’s Water Action Hub, a global on-line platform to match-make business, Government, civil society, and other stakeholders on water and sanitation projects in key river basins around the world.
Also during the conference, the Alliance for Water Stewardship announced the release of its Water Stewardship Standard and the International Council of Mining and Metals launched its Water Stewardship Framework, a management and community-engagement process to advance water stewardship in the mining and metals sector.
Contacts
Gavin Power
UN Global Compact
powerg@un.org
Jason Morrison
Pacific Institute
jmorrison@pacinst.org
