Business and the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation

Mai-Lan HaAdvisor, CEO Water Mandate

Senior Research Associate, The Pacific Institute

• Over 750 million people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water and up to 5 million people die each year from water-related illnesses.

• 2.5 billion people are still without improved sanitation facilities; 1.1 billion people still practice open defecation.

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Challenge

Source: UNICEF

“Safe drinking water and adequate sanitation are crucial for poverty reduction, crucial for sustainable development, and crucial for achieving any and every one of the Millennium Development Goals” – UN Secretary General, Ban-Ki Moon

Business Case for Taking Action

Water as a shared resource that needs protection.

Must be managed to balance needs of people, planet, and production.

Business Case for Taking Action

• Recognition in 2010 of the Rights to Water and Sanitation in 2010

The Human Rights to Water and Sanitation

o Availabilityo Accessibilityo Quality and Safetyo Acceptabilityo Affordability

• Business Responsibility to Respect the Rights to Water and Sanitation

Business Responsibility to Respect the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation

Protect

• State duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including business

Respect

• Corporate responsibility to respect human rights, which means to avoid infringing and address negative impacts with which a business may be involved

Remedy

• Greater access to effective remedy for victims, both judicial and non-judicial

• Defines a company’s responsibility – and its limits• Focus is on risk to people not risk to business• Based on a company’s impacts not on its influence• Applies to all internationally-recognized human rights• Distinct from philanthropy – supporting/promoting human rights

cannot offset negative impacts• Applies to own activities and throughout value chain• Applies regardless of whether state is meeting its duty to protect

Responsibility to Respect – Foundations

Guidance on Business Respect for the Human

Rights to Water and Sanitation:

Bringing a Human Rights Lens to Corporate Water Stewardship

Project Scope and Objectives

Scope• Explore implications of the “corporate responsibility to respect

human rights” under UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for corporate water stewardship

• Focus on business as water usersObjectives• To develop practical guidance for companies that other stakeholders

find useful too• To highlight areas of convergence between the responsibility to

respect and water stewardship efforts and identify possible approaches to address areas of divergence

Scope• Explore implications of the “corporate responsibility to respect

human rights” under UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for corporate water stewardship

• Focus on business as water usersObjectives• To develop practical guidance for companies that other stakeholders

find useful too• To highlight areas of convergence between the responsibility to

respect and water stewardship efforts and identify possible approaches to address areas of divergence

Contents of GuidancePart 1: Objectives, Scope, Audience

Part 2: Translating Impacts into Human Rights & Water Stewardship Terms• Understanding the HRWS• Framework for understanding potential impacts

Part 3: Putting Corporate Respect for the Rights to Water and Sanitation into PracticeI. Developing a Policy Commitment and Embed RespectII. Assess Impacts on the HRWSIII. Integrate and Take Action on the HRWSIV. Track and Communicate PerformanceV. Remediation and Grievance Mechanisms

Part 4: Resources

Contents of Draft GuidancePart 3: Putting Respect for the HRWS into Practice 5 sections that follow a common structure (Core Concepts; Key Steps; Case Studies)

UN Guiding Principles elements

CEO Water Mandate Guidance elements

Policy Commitment and Embedding Respect

Commit; Define

Assessing Impacts Account; Assess

Integrating & Acting on Potential Impacts

Implement

Tracking Performance Monitor

Communicating Performance Communicate

Remediation No clear match – part of Implement?

Business Respect for the HRWS as the Cornerstone for Support

Support can mean:1) Core business (through innovation and services)2) Social Investment or Philanthropy3) Public Policy Engagement and collective action4) Partnerships

• Activities to Respect can help identify areas for support

• Strong basis through strong local community engagement

Implementation: Company Action

Getting Your House in Order

• World Business Council for Sustainable Development WASH Pledge

• H&M’s Position Paper on the HumanRight to Water and Sanitation

Providing Services

• Aqualogy – Innovation and Knowledge Sharing

• Unilever – Lifebuoy, Domestos

Implementation: Company Action

Multi-stakeholder Cooperation & Community Involvement• Investments

• Co-financing projects (Emahlahleni)

New Governance Models – Leveraging the Private Sector

• India’s New CSR Law

Key Themes

• Getting your house in order

• Multi-stakeholder cooperation

• Understanding local context

• Importance of stakeholder engagement – Putting People at the Center

Discussion Questions• What is the private sector’s role vis a vis government and civil society in helping to

meet and implement sustainable development objectives around water access, sanitation, and hygiene? What has already been accomplished and what more can be done?

• What have you found to be key success factors? What tools, guidance, and/or frameworks have been particularly useful?

• The UN Global Compact lays out businesses’ responsibility to respect and to support the realization of human rights including the rights to water and sanitation. How are companies meeting these expectations? What success story stands out for you?

• What are the major challenges to scaling-up WASH solutions and how might these challenges be overcome?