The World Water Week 2011 in Stockholm focused on the issue of water in an urbanising world, where cities are growing, the population is increasing and lifestyles are changing. In this world water has become a scarce resource (WEF, 2011). Add environmental degradation and climate change to the equation and the situation looks quite gloomy. However, the water experts in Stockholm did not use the forum to add even darker colours to the picture of water scarcity around the world. Promising initiatives to tackle the water problems were presented. One prominent global initiative is the Water Futures Partnership between SABMiller, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) which called for new partners to join their collective efforts to secure the future of watersheds across the globe (SABMiller, WWF and GIZ, 2011).
The partnership was formed in 2009 between the world’s second largest brewer company SABMiller, WWF and the GIZ to support the engagement of the business community in the water sector in Peru, South Africa, Tanzania and the Ukraine. The aim of the partnership is to jointly mitigate the water risks in the watersheds in these four countries which is understood to be a shared responsibility.
The Water Futures Partnership in consultation with local stakeholders has identified the main water risks to the company which concern the company’s access to sufficient water quantities with satisfactory quality. Water-related risks concern the regulatory risks and reputational risks which can emerge when the company’s image is tarnished which could be the case when a company is (perceived to be) depriving communities of water for their production.
Tanzania is one of the countries where the partnership is carrying out the Water Futures initiative providing support to the government in dealing with the challenges in the water sector and creating awareness about water risks. The Tanzanian partners have come together with different understanding of what constitutes water risks and water risk mitigation strategies. The Water Futures initiative aims at benefiting from the diversity of its partners and the achieved critical mass to address and mitigate risks in the water sector. The German Minister for Development and member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), Mr. Niebel, believes ‘that combining the economic self-interest of businesses with development principles which have been agreed upon and implemented with local partners always results in a positive outcome.’ (Translation from German, The European, 2010).
Cross-sector partnerships are celebrated by some in particular in neo-liberal circles as a ‘panacea’ in the environmental and development sector (Forsyth, 2010). In the case of Tanzania, the partnership has achieved major steps towards awareness creation of water risks and risk mitigating activities. The partnership is becoming a platform which brings together local and international stakeholders to collectively improve sustainability in the water sector. However, the interests of businesses to responsibly engage in water policies and to shape the water sector on which their existence depends should be critically questioned by stakeholders. Such a discussion is essential given that the Water Futures Partnership is inviting new partners to join the alliance and has initiated new risk mitigating collaborations with partners in Colombia, Honduras, India and the USA.
It is important to ask how cross-sector partnerships can create a win-win situation where society, the environment and the economy benefit from collaborations in the water sector and contribute to securing our water futures. How can a cross-sector partnership guarantee that the interests of all partners are equally represented? In particular, how can cross-sector collaboration give a voice to marginalised communities and individuals to address the risks of a water scarce future?
Author: Fiona Meyer
Fiona Meyer has studied MSc Environment and Development at King’s College London and wrote her thesis on the Water Future Partnership in Tanzania entitled: "An analysis of stakeholder perceptions and the role of discourse forums to mitigate water risks: A Case study of the Water Futures Partnership in the Wami-Ruvu River Basin, Tanzania."
Sources
Forsyth, T. (2010) Panacea or Paradox? Cross-sector partnerships, climate change and development. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 1 (5), pp 683-696.
SABMiller, WWF and GIZ (2011) Water Futures. [online] Available from: http://www.sabmiller.com/index.asp?pageid=122 [Accessed 30 August 2011].
The European (2010) Niebel Interview fuer The European. [online] Available at: http://www.fdp.de/Aktuelle-Meldungen-aus-der-Bundespartei/543c185/index.html?id=15752&suche=FDP%20Bundespartei [Accessed on 21 August 2011]
WEF (2011). Water Security the Water-Food-Energy-Climate Nexus. Washington: Island Press.