You are a Water Europe board member of college A ‘Multinational Corporations’- Could you tell us what drives you personally to have this role at Water Europe? What do you want to achieve?
SUEZ has been a founding member of the initial Technology Platform and we have been an active Board member ever since, through the various transformations into today’s organization. This demonstrates the importance we attach to Water Europe for its role in shaping the appropriate environment for the development of a Water Smart Society in Europe and beyond. As a Board member, I very much value the sharing with all representatives of the water community both within college A and even more importantly with other colleges, illustrating close cooperation between public and private players.
Why is it important for Suez to be part of Water Europe?
Water is at the centre of today’s biggest challenges, amongst which climate change and the associated consequences on water availability and quality. Water Europe is the sole multi-stakeholder association representing the whole water value-chain that has the power to use its shared vision to push for an ambitious water strategy for the next Commission mandate, starting with the awaited Water Resilience Initiative.
Which ones do you consider the biggest challenges of the European water sector, at the moment, and how do you see us overcoming them?
With the new governance of the European Union taking place, clearly ensuring water is put at the highest level on the political agenda remains a priority to ensure a holistic consideration of all the challenges faced by what remains a highly fragmented sector. Provided the right framework is in place, many solutions and innovations brought by Water Europe’s members can already be implemented depending on the local context (e.g. water reuse for both municipal and industrial actors, managed aquifer recharge, turning wastewater treatment plants into biofactories recovering various resources, etc…). Water Europe needs to continue promoting them for their rapid adoption. The third challenge is to set up dedicated EU funding and incentives to finance to the right level the transformation as well as the sustainability of the sector.
Building a Water-Smart Society is our vision. Which actions shall we prioritise to make this happen?
Water Europe has been successful thanks to the clarity of its message and the consistency of its approach. We need to continue demonstrating the high value of water for our society, both from an economic, environmental and social point of view. Attracting more talented people to the sector should also become one of Water Europe’s priority with both raising the technological level of the sector, including acceleration of digitalization, and yet promoting nature-based solutions whenever possible.
