Nestl Waters focuses on positive water impact by regenerating local water cycles

Environment

Nestl Waters focuses on positive water impact by regenerating local water cycles

Nestl Waters will expand its present efforts to manage water sustainably and increase its collaboration with partners to identify and support local solutions. These solutions are designed to help regenerate the ecosystems in the areas around each of Nestl Waters 48 sites around the world. As of 2025, they will help nature retain more water than the business uses in its operations.

The new initiative is based on the companys 2017 commitment to certify all of its Waters sites by the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) by 2025. This standard needs water users to understand and act collectively on water challenges.

Today, we are accelerating our journey to support the regeneration of local water cycles and are challenging ourselves to take bold new steps. We want to play an active role in helping to conserve water resources everywhere we operate. To do so, we will work with many partners to develop tailored projects that help find local solutions. said Matthias Riehle, Business Executive Officer, Nestl Waters, Middle East and North Africa

Nestl will now use its expertise to increase the regeneration of local water cycles through the implementation of more than 100 projects for its 48 sites by 2025. These new, measurable actions will support better water management and infrastructure. Some project examples include:

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The delivery of water treatment, filtration and pipeline infrastructure for the municipal water supply in Benha, Egypt
Collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation in Jordan since 2017 to supply villagers with safe drinking water by providing a new well in the village of Hussainiya, Jordan
Buxton Land conservation (protecting land from development) and natural flood management interventions in Derbyshire UK
Vittel River restoration and renaturation projects in Vosges, France

Nestl will invest CHF 120 million (USD 130 million) to assist the implementation of the more than 100 projects. Climate change, higher water consumption, growing urbanization and damaged infrastructure are some of the factors contributing to the deterioration of the natural water cycle. These trends are interfering with the predictability of precipitation and the availability of clean water. Additionally, rising temperatures and more extreme weather patterns are causing more flooding and droughts.

Cdric Egger, Head of Sustainability at Nestl Waters said As a business with a long heritage of nature protection and water stewardship, we want to go beyond the conservation of water sources to help regenerate and restore water cycles in the areas where we operate We know the water challenge is global, but it can only be tackled through local solutions. Now is the time to expand the scope of our actions. With Nestls presence around the world, we can learn from our many partners and contribute to solving the water challenges in the locations near our operations. Nestls work will be accessed to individual locations, needs and issues and will take a broader approach, going beyond its own operations. The company will work with local water users, communities, partners and global experts to identify, develop and progress projects specific to those challenges. As a founding member of the 2030 Water Resources Group (2030 WRG), Nestl has a history of collaborating with leaders and experts from the public, private and civil society sectors to help design solutions for sustainable water management. The company will make use of its experience and learnings from the 2030 WRG as well as from its many other partnerships in the implementation of the more than 100 water projects outlined above. All projects will be measurable, using the World Resources Institutes Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting (VWBA) methodology. This methodology provides consistency in analyzing water management activities and helps to ensure that such activities address current and future shared water challenges. Using this methodology, a freshly created external panel will review the relevance and sustainability of the projects and give feedback on whether they are helping to address the local challenges and opportunities. Nestl Waters will provide full transparency on the water usage at each of its sites and on what its projects contribute to the area.