If you'd like to read up on some of the issues covered in David Molden’s video (posted by Cécile yesterday), Nestlé has actually just backed a new report by the Foreign Policy Centre (FPC) exploring the global water crisis, available to download here.

Released last week, ‘Tackling the World Water Crisis: Reshaping the Future of Foreign Policy’ is a collection of short essays, with contributions from the Rt Hon William Hague MP, the UK's new Foreign Secretary and Baroness Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief. It argues that the global water crisis may be averted if governments and political leaders prioritise better water management.

This was an idea voiced by members of the panel during the Water and Sustainability discussion session at Nestlé’s second international Creating Shared Value (CSV) Forum in London last month. Echoing David Molden, Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, linked water management with food security, explaining that the amount of water required to produce different food products varies widely and suggesting that this needs to be understood and written into trade agreements.

Colin Chartres, Director General of the International Water Management Institute and David Molden’s colleague, stated the need for governance, policy and institutional reform: “I think the really difficult issue is getting governments to change the way they approach and develop policies on water, and the way this is translated by institutions into water management,” he said.

“We need an arsenal of measures to attack water scarcity. We know most of the technologies. We know how to do it. It’s getting capacity developed and built in many countries that is the real problem.”

You can view video highlights from the Water and Sustainability Session at Nestlé's 2010 CSV Forum here. A report summary of the Forum's key findings will also be available here later this month.

Interviews with two of the expert panel from yesterday's second international Nestlé Creating Shared Value Forum are now available to view online:

Amir Dossal from the United Nations Office for Partnerships explains why the private sector - with its expertise, technology, management skills, and global reach - must be encouraged to "invest its creativity" in the Millennium Development Goals.

Dr. Ismail Serageldin of Bibliotheca Alexandrina stresses that no one group can tackle the pressing global development challenges we face on its own. Nestlé is showing strong leadership, he says, but others must join in if we are to "abolish hunger in our lifetimes".

Dossal and Sergeldin were just two of the world leading experts in nutrition, water and rural development brought together by Nestlé to discuss the serious global challenges facing us in these three areas, and the role business has to play in solving them. 

More highlights and links from the Forum will be available here soon.