COLUMBUS, Ind. — Cummins Inc. has announced a new global community program called Cummins Water Works, which addresses the global water crisis by partnering with leading water experts and investing and engaging in sustainable, large-scale, high-impact water projects around the world.
This new community program is supported initially by $8 million in Cummins grants focusing on five of the most water-stressed countries: Mexico, Brazil, India, South Africa and the U.S.
By 2025, Cummins Water Works will bring fresh water to 20 million people who would not otherwise have access to it, while striving to produce net water benefits that exceed Cummins’ annual water use in all Cummins regions by 2030, and in all Cummins communities by 2050.
Today, 785 million people – one in nine – lack access to safe water. And, by 2050, at least one in four people will likely live in a country affected by chronic or recurring water shortages, company officials said.
“The water crisis affects so many issues that are important to us in our communities, including health, education, gender equity, and economic opportunity,” explained Mary Chandler, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Community Relations at Cummins. “We are working to address climate change across all aspects of the company – improving our operations, developing new products and working closely with our customers and suppliers. In our communities, we are working to address one of the primary effects of climate change, namely water stress, through Cummins Water Works.”
“Addressing a crisis of this magnitude requires collective action,” said André Villaça Ramalho with the Water Resilience Coalition, a United Nations-sanctioned working group of which Cummins is a member. “We are excited that Cummins has joined our efforts, and we have been impressed by how Cummins consistently matches words with action when it comes to sustainability.”
Joining the Water Resilience Coalition connects Cummins with water-related non-profit organizations and more than a dozen major global companies focused collectively on analyzing, prioritizing, implementing, and managing high-impact water projects in major water-stressed regions around the world.
Cummins is launching its new community program through partnerships with two global nonprofit organizations, The Nature Conservancy and Water.org. Initial and projected projects include working with The Nature Conservancy to help plan and engage in projects in Brazil, the U.S. and India that are primarily focused upstream on improving, repairing, and strengthening primary water sources on which communities are dependent.
Working with Water.org, Cummins will help plan and engage in projects in Mexico, Brazil, and India that are primarily focused downstream, on improving water cost, quality, and availability in communities.
For the complete story, see Thursday’s Republic.
