BMZ, GIZ, SABMiller, WWF, Coca-Cola and The UN Global Compact CEO Water mandate invite you to join us at Stockholm World Water Week

14:00-17:30, 30TH AUGUST 2012, ROOM K22

The past five years has seen an emergence of global-level discussions, tools and services to aid companies and investors in understanding corporate water risks. However, despite all this, private sector action to effectively address water risk is still relatively rare.

Corporate water risks occur at a watershed level and are usually shared by society, causing secondary, more complex risks to emerge for business. The root causes of these shared risks are often of an institutional nature, highly linked to the local political economy. Therefore, corporate water risk can only really be understood and mitigated at a watershed level, through partnerships between business, government and civil society.

This seminar will look into the lessons of such partnerships, in which the private sector is investing in public infrastructure, ecosystem services and projects to reduce other water users’ impacts. Companies are also starting to engage with governments to support the implementation of public policy and strengthen water governance. However, implementing such partnerships in a genuinely sustainable and impactful way is a challenge not to be underestimated.

Join us to hear experiences and perspectives from businesses, public sector, NGO and implementing agencies, to share your insights and to learn more about how you can get involved in Water Futures.

The Water Futures Partnership was established in 2009 by SABMiller, WWF and GIZ (on behalf of BMZ) to help establish and support watershed-level action-orientated partnerships to mitigate shared water risks.

Draft agenda

Chair: Franz Marré, Head of Water, Energy, Urban Development and Geosciences Sector, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Facilitator: Paul van Koppen, Consultant

 
Part A - Water Futures: a local approach to mitigating shared water risks

14:00 Chair's opening and introduction. Mr. Franz Marré, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany

14:10 Water as a business risk and the corporate case for action. Mr. David Grant, SABMiller, UK

14:15 Shared water risks from the conservation perspective. Dr. Dave Tickner, WWF, UK

14:20 The Water Futures Partnership - the global-local approach to addressing water risk. Mr. Robin Farrington, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Germany

14:25 Q&A

 
Part B - Water stewardship in action - short case studies

14:35 Galvanising collective action for aquifer sustainability in Peru. Mr. Michael Rosenauer, GIZ, Germany

14:45 Supply chains and ecosystems: shared resilience in the face of water scarcity in the Western Cape. Ms. Christine Colvin, WWF, South Africa and Mr. Andre Fourie, SAB Ltd, South Africa

14:55 Partnerships for shared water security - experiences from the mining sector. Ms. Samantha Hoe-Richardson, Anglo-American, UK

15:05 The water-energy nexus and business case for investing in public infrastructure. Mr. Bob Kleynjan, Sasol and Mr. Lenka Thamae, ORASECOM (tbc), South Africa

15:15 Discussion with panel

15:45 COFFEE BREAK

 
Part C - Distilling lessons from implementation

16:10 A critical look at lessons from water stewardship partnerships. Mr. Ken Caplan, Building Partnerships for Development in Water and Sanitation, UK

16:20 Launch of the UN Global Compact CEO Water Mandate Guide to Collective Action. Mr. Jason Morrison, CEO Water Mandate, and Mr. Rob Greenwood, Ross Strategic, USA

16:30 Q&A

 
Part D - Looking forward: Water Stewardship's role in water security and opportunities to engage

16:40 Getting more effective: a vision for partnerships to address shared water risks. Mr. Greg Koch, The Coca-Cola Company, USA

16:45 What role can water stewardship play in Southern Africa’s water security? Mr. Phera Ramoeli, SADC Water, Botswana (tbc)

16:55 Opportunities to engage: the Water Futures Initiative. Mr. Robin Farrington, GIZ, Germany and Mr. David Grant, SABMiller, UK

17:05 Discussion with panel

17:25 Chair’s concluding remarks and close, Mr. Franz Marré, BMZ, German