Dear John,
I am still energized from my week in New York City where, for the first time in 46 years, global leaders and stakeholders convened for the United Nations Water Conference to sound the alarm on the global water crisis and commit to strategies moving us closer to a water secure future.
It’s been a long time coming. Hardly a day goes by without a headline illustrating our frightening trajectory. In February, for example, Lake Powell, the second-largest reservoir in the U.S., the lifeblood of communities supporting millions of people, along with agriculture and business, dropped to an all-time low.
Meanwhile, it’s estimated that global water demand will exceed supply by 56% by 2030, further exacerbating water scarcity and quality issues around the world.
The message at the UN Water Conference was clear: Collective action among all players—the private sector, governments, and organizations—is necessary to drive transformative change and progress on global water goals.
Stakeholders’ commitments to these goals are captured in the Water Action Agenda, the key outcome of the conference. Among the most important commitments from the private sector is a pledge from 89 investor signatories representing more than $16 trillion in assets who have signed on with Ceres’ Valuing Water Finance Initiative
to engage with companies with a high water footprint to improve their water stewardship and mitigate their water risk. |
Ceres’ CEO Mindy Lubber at United Nations headquarters where she spoke at the launch of the Business Leaders’ Open Call to Acceleration Action on Water. |
| Having worked nearly a decade building the business case for acting on water risk, my colleagues and I are encouraged by the commitments made at the UN Water Conference. But this is just the beginning. It’s critical everyone, from individuals to the largest corporations to governments, take their role as water stewards seriously and work to ensure we have sustainable water supplies for generations to come. |
| P.S. You can help support our work to protect global water resources by donating to Ceres. |
