Press release 06 July 2007
Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Swedish water initiative at UN summit

The UN Summit on corporate social responsibility - the Global Compact Leaders Summit - comes to an end in Geneva today.

At the Summit important progress was made regarding cooperation on water use by companies.

Six large companies, including the Coca-Cola Company and the Läckeby Water Group, have on the Swedish Government's initiative agreed on a new cooperation model for the responsible management of water resources by companies. "The CEO Water Mandate" was launched and signed by these companies on Friday in the presence of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. These companies have thus expressed their will to work actively to help reduce water pollution and water consumption, and to find ways of making water available in poor countries.

"The Water Mandate is a concrete example of the voluntary responsibility companies take in society. The Mandate is based on voluntary participation and responsibility. The Government's role has been to facilitate cooperation between companies and to support them in their work," says Sten Tolgfors.
"The Government's role is to show leadership and encourage responsibility, particularly in dialogue with countries facing major challenges with regard to issues such as human rights," says Mr Tolgfors.
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Minister for Foreign Trade Sten Tolgfors gave the opening address at a round-table discussion with the participating countries' ministers and delegation heads. The meeting was chaired by UN General Assembly President Sheikha Al Khalifa. Hosting the round-table discussion with Mr Tolgfors was Dr Maxwell Mkwezalamba, Commissioner for Economic Affairs for the African Union.
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Companies included in the CEO Water Mandate are: The Coca-Cola Company, Levi Strauss & Co, Läckeby Water Group, Nestlé S.A., SABMiller and SUEZ.
These companies commit themselves, within the context of their operations, to take responsibility to ensure that water management in their companies has as little environmental impact as possible. This may be a matter of technology, reduced consumption, or better treatment of polluted water. Important aspects of the work are transparency on water management on the part of the company, and increasing awareness of water throughout the company. These companies see this initiative as part of their support to Global Compact.

Central cooperation partners in this new initiative are the Stockholm International Water Institute, the Swedish Water House, Sida and the UN Global Compact.