Other type of commitment (e.g. a “pact”, a “charter”, …)

As a participant in the discussions and a solution provider, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT contributed throughout the Forum week to the exchanges and shared its know-how with all the stakeholders in the water sector.

SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT has made a commitment to offer concrete solutions covering topics related to social responsibility, to dialogue with stakeholders, to research and innovation, as well as to governance.

-    SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT therefore proposes to share its skills by training more than 100 professionals and managers working in water and sanitation services in developing countries. To do this, it will rely on the “Water for All” chair created by the SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT Eau pour Tous (Water for All) Foundation in partnership with ParisTech in 2008. This 12-month training course based in Montpellier will enhance the managerial and technical skills of these professionals. Some fifty people have already been trained as part of this course. The principle of sharing skills is at the heart of the Group’s activities, particularly for its contracts internationally (in Algiers, for example).

-   Through the SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT Initiatives Fund, the company will also devote at least €2 million every year to sponsorship projects supporting access to essential services in developing countries and social integration in France. SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT thus intends to make a contribution to the implementation of the Right to Water, recognised as a fundamental human right in 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly.

-   The company has also committed to stepping up its efforts in the research and innovation field in order to better protect the water resource and the environment. SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT will be concentrating its efforts on technologies which will improve the energy efficiency of water and sanitation services, control water consumption better and boost the fight against the squandering of resources. The optimisation of technologies such as the re-use of waste water or seawater desalination could, for example, form part of these studies.

-   In France, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT already offers, in partnership with those local authorities who want it, new pricing structures guaranteeing access to water to all households. It also offers additional support schemes, such as “Chèques Ô” to help households on low incomes. SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT is now offering to standardise these approaches for its customers.

-    The Group will offer to set up Governance Committees when new agreements are signed with cities with a population of over 300,000. In particular, these committees will formalise dialogue with the local stakeholders. This commitment is consistent with the search for solutions initiated in France by the Contrat pour la santé de l’eau (“Contract for Water Health”) which in the main proposes overhauled methods of governance, with a new sharing of roles between the public and the private operator. For SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT, open and balanced governance is an essential factor for the efficiency of water and sanitation services.

These commitments will be regularly monitored internally and the results will be analysed and presented during the 7th World Water Forum  to be held in Daegu, Republic of Korea.

Caroline

Mairesse

SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT