Outstanding Practices by Business and Industry in the Water Sector Sought as Nominations for the Stockholm Industry Water Award

Sun, 30/01/2005

Stockholm, December 2004 – Companies that have contributed to pollution elimination or reduced freshwater consumption through innovative programs, policies, processes or products now have the opportunity to be nominated for the prestigious 2005 Stockholm Industry Water Award.

The Stockholm Water Foundation presents the award in collaboration with the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Nomination forms and criteria are available at www.siwi.org.

Nominations will be accepted until February 28, 2005, from businesses and industries whose resources, competencies and experiences have helped to reduce the effects of the escalating world water crisis. The award was founded to stimulate business contributions to sustainable water development and recognises:

• Innovative corporate development of water and wastewater process technologies
• Environmental improvement through improved performance in production processes
• New products or technologies
• Other significant corporate contributions to helping improve the world water situation

The award will be presented in August 2005 during the World Water Week in Stockholm (www.worldwaterweek.org).

Previous winners of the Stockholm Industry Water Award include the Staple Fibre Division of Grasim Industries Ltd, India (2004), ZENON Environmental Inc, Canada (2003), Kaldnes Miljöteknologi AS, Norway (2002), The General Motors de Mexico Ramos Arizpe Complex, Mexico (2001), Northumbrian Water Limited, United Kingdom (2000).

Industry and Water
In recent years, the critical global water situation has been addressed by both water professionals and governments in a number of international meetings, and actions and initiatives are getting underway. The UN Millennium Development Goals and their related commitments aim to improve among other things the global water and sanitation situation. In particular, the proportion of the world’s population lacking safe drinking water and sanitation should to be halved by 2015.

Business and industry are taking an active role in support of greater access to water and sanitation in the developing world and to an improved water environment. Increasingly, the business and industry are engaged as a legitimate stakeholder with responsibility. Individual companies, such as those who have won the Stockholm Industry Water Award, are taking an active role, and umbrella groups such as the WBCSD are seeing their memberships grow – both indicators of heightened corporate engagement. Similarly, private sector initiatives, like the World Economic Forum’s “Water Initiative,” are helping to build functioning coalitions, heighten awareness and raise the bar for corporate social responsibility in the water sector.

Contacts: Stephanie Blenckner, SIWI, +46 (0)73 914 3972 (mobile), E-post: stephanie.blenckner@siwi.org, David Trouba, SIWI, +46 (0)73 914 3989 (mobile), E-post: dave.trouba@siwi.org.

SIWI – Independent and Leading-Edge Water Competence for Future-Oriented Action
The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is a policy think tank that contributes to international efforts to find solutions to the world's escalating water crisis. SIWI advocates future-oriented, knowledge-integrated water views in decision making, nationally and internationally, that lead to sustainable use of the world’s water resources and sustainable development of societies.