UN CEO Water Mandate Initiative (March 2008)

CONCUR Senior Associate Bennett Brooks facilitated the inaugural meeting of the CEO Water Mandate, a United Nations-sponsored initiative that brings together business leaders and the broader international community with a focus on improving strategies and efforts to address the emerging global water crisis.

The initiative focuses on six main topic areas: direct operations; supply chain and watershed management; collective action; public policy; community engagement; and transparency. The two-day meeting, held at UN headquarters in New York City, brought together several dozen business leaders, UN agency representatives, environmental organizations and others to refine the focus and strategy for guiding the Mandate’s future endeavors. The meeting resulted in a consensus agreement on the Mandate’s near-term priorities, as well as the unanimous endorsement of the initiative’s governance and funding structure. CONCUR’s role focused on strategic planning and meeting facilitation. In that capacity, CONCUR teamed closely with both the UN Global Compact Office and the Pacific Institute.