The United Nations (UN) advocates for an international agenda to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development — of which Natura is a part — believes that companies can play an active and responsible role in ensuring a socially just, ecologically sustainable, and economically viable future for water management.
Water is a priority theme on the global agenda, which is why Natura has committed, in its 2050 Sustainability Vision, to seek a relative reduction in the impact and consumption of this resource throughout its value chain, which includes suppliers, production cycles, consumers, employees, surrounding communities, among others.
As part of this ongoing quest to create value for society as a whole, Natura reaffirms its desire to grow sustainably, which means creating a positive impact that transcends the economic aspect and also values social and environmental spheres. This means that Natura intends to do more than just reduce or compensate for the possible negative effects generated by the business; the goal is to generate change, starting from within the company itself.
Given the importance of the topic, on August 11, collaborators Ines Francke and Luiza Alves from Natura's Sustainable Technologies area welcomed Caio Ferraz, director of the web series Volume Vivo, and Dr. André dos Santos, a professor at UFSCar Sorocaba and researcher from the GIAIA group, for a chat - “We Need to Talk About Water!” - aimed at mobilizing and engaging employees on the topic.
Caio Ferraz shared the story of the city of São Paulo from the perspective of its rivers, drawing attention to the choices that were decisive for the risk of scarcity that the city faces today. He highlighted that climate change and lack of rainfall are cited as the causes of the supply crisis; however, the origin of this crisis is much older and deeper: “There is no lack of water in São Paulo. São Paulo has plenty of water! What is lacking is clean water!,” says Caio. The web series Volume Vivo, available for free online, is part of an information project about scarcity and water management in greater São Paulo. For those who want to stay updated on the topic, it is possible to follow the project on Facebook and Twitter.
Meanwhile, the technical-scientific consultant of the group GIAIA – Independent Group for Environmental Impact Assessment - and professor at UFSCar Sorocaba, Dr. André dos Santos provided information about the Mariana (MG) disaster, discussing the causes and consequences for the Rio Doce basin, and describing the environmental, social, and economic impacts of the dam collapse. Contrary to what we might think, the disaster affected many other regions beyond Mariana, significantly impacting the biodiversity of the Rio Doce and consequently, the tourism potential of various areas, “We cannot classify what happened in Mariana as an accident, but rather as an incident, since many knew it could have been predicted and avoided,” says the GIAIA researcher. The group is also recruiting new researchers and volunteers to assist with research and surveys in the Rio Doce basin region in Minas Gerais.
The discussion was extremely valuable for Natura employees, who left more aware and engaged with the cause, “the employees who participated were astonished by the situations presented, motivated to think differently, that we can generate changes and these can start coming from within our own home!,” says Luiza Alves.
