Ecolab Inc. has expanded its commitment to global water stewardship by
working with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as a founding partner of the
Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) to support the launch and
implementation of the International Water Stewardship Standard, a global
framework to promote sustainable freshwater use.
The Standard was announced by AWS in April at the UN CEO Water Mandate
multi-stakeholder working conference in Lima, Peru, and builds upon
Ecolab's work with WWF to implement the beta AWS Standard in China.
“Ecolab has considerable water management expertise with solutions that
help a wide range of industries conserve, treat and reuse water,” said
Douglas M. Baker, Jr., Ecolab chairman and chief executive officer.
“Through our work with WWF and AWS, we are expanding our reach beyond
our operations and customers to advance sustainable water management
practices around the world.”
In 2013, Ecolab was one of a handful of global partners to pilot the
beta Standard to test its feasibility and applicability. Ecolab and WWF
field-tested the beta Standard at two sites within the lower Yangtze,
one of China’s most critical watersheds, and shared its learnings with
AWS to ensure the effectiveness of the AWS Standard.
As part of this continued commitment to water stewardship, Ecolab will
implement the AWS Standard within its own operations where water risks
are identified, starting with formal adoption of the Standard at its
lower Yangtze facilities. In addition, Ecolab aims to collaborate with
approximately 10 companies with facilities in the lower Yangtze
catchment to support adoption of the Standard in more locations.
Addressing the world’s water challenges requires collaboration by
businesses, communities, governments and NGOs. Ecolab, the global leader
in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services, joins nearly 30
leading organizations from across sectors to advance the efforts of AWS
to protect the world’s limited freshwater resources. The AWS Standard
provides a critical framework to inform decision making by water users
at the watershed level. Global adoption of the AWS Standard will drive
more responsible water management and collaboration.
“Ecolab has been a critical ally in advancing the water stewardship
landscape,” said Adrian Sym, executive director of AWS. “Their
commitment demonstrates a willingness to also walk the talk by
implementing the AWS Standard in their own operations. We are thrilled
to have Ecolab as a founding partner and excited to work with them to
help ensure clean water for people and nature.”
The AWS Standard was developed through a four-year, multi-stakeholder,
global water roundtable process that included a diversity of business,
public sector and civil society interests from around the world. This
free, globally consistent and locally adaptable standard outlines a set
of water stewardship criteria and indicators for how water should be
stewarded at a site and catchment level in a way that is
environmentally, socially, and economically beneficial. The Standard
provides water stewards with a six-step continual improvement framework
that enables sites to commit to, understand, plan, implement, evaluate
and communicate water stewardship actions. To learn more about the AWS
Standard, visit www.allianceforwaterstewardship.org.
About Ecolab
A trusted partner at more than one million
customer locations, Ecolab (ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene
and energy technologies and services that protect people and vital
resources. With 2013 sales of $13 billion and 45,000 associates, Ecolab
delivers comprehensive solutions and on-site service to promote safe
food, maintain clean environments, optimize water and energy use and
improve operational efficiencies for customers in the food, healthcare,
energy, hospitality and industrial markets in more than 170 countries
around the world. For more Ecolab news and information, visit www.ecolab.com.
About World Wildlife Fund
WWF is one of the world’s leading
conservation organizations, working in 100 countries for over half a
century. With the support of almost five million members worldwide, WWF
is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the
diversity and abundance of life on Earth, halt the degradation of the
environment and combat climate change. Visit www.worldwildlife.org
to learn more and keep up with the latest conservation news by following @WWFNews
on Twitter.
About the Alliance for Water Stewardship
The Alliance for
Water Stewardship is a partnership of global leaders in sustainable
water management who are dedicated to promoting responsible use of
freshwater that is socially, economically and environmentally
beneficial. AWS drives collective responses to shared water challenges
through its stakeholder-endorsed international Water Stewardship
Standard. AWS’s Founding Partners are American Standard, CDP, Centre for
Responsible Business, Centro del Agua para America Latina y el Caribe,
Ecolab, European Water Partnership, Fundacion Chile, Fundacion FEMSA,
Future500, General Mills, The Gold Standard Foundation, Hindustan
Unilever Foundation, Inghams, Marks & Spencer, Murray Darling Basin
Authority, Nestle, Pacific Institute, Sealed Air,United Nations
Environment Programme, the UN Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate, The
Nature Conservancy, The Water Council, Veolia Environnement, Water
Environment Foundation, Water Footprint Network, Water Stewardship
Australia, Water Witness International, WaterAid and WWF. info@allianceforwaterstewardship.org
(ECL-C)
Copyright Business Wire 2014