“Shell recognises the necessity of measuring fresh water usage in the industrial sector”, says Peter Vosel, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell. Next to the Agriculture sector, Industry accounts for the largest use of fresh water resources. In an attempt to address increased demand and use, Shell has created a database that maps how global emissions can be absorbed in various models dependent on varying Carbon emissions. For example, Shell has promoted environmentally beneficial water use in Brazil by advocating for source feed water by the rain instead of direct pumping of water from an aquifer for irrigation purposes. In Qatar, the company has converted natural gas to liquid products with technology that does not take fresh water from Qatar’s arid surroundings.

Prince Willem-Alexander of Orange speaks on the need to increase human capacity and decrease the financial impact of water access to families. Although the Millennium Goal concerning safe drinking water has been reached, it is important to note that global targets mask regional disparities. The goal has primarily been met by a 50% increase in India and China. However, in the past 20 years the situation is different in Africa. For success in continuing to achieve clean drinking water objectives, sanitation issues must be kept within the forefront of solution dialogues and objectives.

Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) advocates solutions to sanitation issues  via sustainable financing and the maintenance and development of infrastructure in both developing and OECD countries. Strategic growth to financial planning for the future can be sustainably addressed through tariffs, taxes and transfers.

Peter Braheck-Letmathe, Chairman of the Board for Nestlé and Chairman of the Water Resources Group, discusses the importance of the Food-Water-Energy Nexus. He advocates the benefits of public-private partnerships and a need for transparency in research findings in the decrease of water resources and usage by both businesses and governments, alike.

In conclusion, Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General of IUCN( International Union for Conservation of Nature), advocates the need to use nature and infrastructure when addressing water sanitation issues. For example, cities can use wetlands as a final cleaning solution to water purification projects.