Argentine Stock Exchange - BYMA will deliver New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) data in real time through upgraded proprietary platform: BYMADATA. April 01, 2020. BUENO ARIES, Argentina. BYMA –Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos has entered into an agreement with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the largest equities exchange in the world, to deliver NYSE data via the NYSE Best Quotes and Trades data feed (NYSE BQT). NYSE BQT provides a unified view of quotes and trades from each of the NYSE markets (NYSE, NYSE American, NYSE Arca, NYSE National and NYSE Chicago). This unprecedented step in the region enables the Argentine Stock Exchange to start delivering NYSE data and market information in real time. Investors will have real-time international data feeds covering asset classes such as equities, ETFs and ADRs traded on the NYSE markets, as well as domestic market data feeds. This information will be included in the new version of the proprietary platform BYMADATA, launching in the beginning of April. Its purpose is to serve fast-growing information needs while protecting data quality. This new development will gradually add more content and features, such as main commodities data, mutual fund analytic tools, a more sophisticated technical analysis tool and a new link to Excel in real time, among others. Ernesto Allaria, BYMA Chairman, said: “We are really proud to take this big step forward by executing this Agreement with one of the main market players in the world. This new business relationship contributes to domestic market growth and lets us enable enhanced information for investors´ strategic decision-making processes. This upgrade turns BYMADATA into one of the best products in the market in cost/quality terms.” “We are excited to work with BYMA to bring real-time U.S. equities data to Argentina, equipping investors with a comprehensive view of the market in one feed. We look forward to supporting BYMA as they grow the BYMADATA platform,” said Cameron McDonald, Head of NYSE Proprietary Data. Source Link: https://www.byma.com.ar/en/news/byma-agreement-with-nyses-bqt/

Now is a good time to start thinking about the governance of superintelligence—future AI systems dramatically more capable than even AGI. May 22, 2023. Given the picture as we see it now, it’s conceivable that within the next ten years, AI systems will exceed expert skill level in most domains, and carry out as much productive activity as one of today’s largest corporations. In terms of both potential upsides and downsides, superintelligence will be more powerful than other technologies humanity has had to contend with in the past. We can have a dramatically more prosperous future; but we have to manage risk to get there. Given the possibility of existential risk, we can’t just be reactive. Nuclear energy is a commonly used historical example of a technology with this property; synthetic biology is another example. We must mitigate the risks of today’s AI technology too, but superintelligence will require special treatment and coordination. A starting point There are many ideas that matter for us to have a good chance at successfully navigating this development; here we lay out our initial thinking on three of them. First, we need some degree of coordination among the leading development efforts to ensure that the development of superintelligence occurs in a manner that allows us to both maintain safety and help smooth integration of these systems with society. There are many ways this could be implemented; major governments around the world could set up a project that many current efforts become part of, or we could collectively agree (with the backing power of a new organization like the one suggested below) that the rate of growth in AI capability at the frontier is limited to a certain rate per year. And of course, individual companies should be held to an extremely high standard of acting responsibly. Second, we are likely to eventually need something like an IAEA for superintelligence efforts; any effort above a certain capability (or resources like compute) threshold will need to be subject to an international authority that can inspect systems, require audits, test for compliance with safety standards, place restrictions on degrees of deployment and levels of security, etc. Tracking compute and energy usage could go a long way, and give us some hope this idea could actually be implementable. As a first step, companies could voluntarily agree to begin implementing elements of what such an agency might one day require, and as a second, individual countries could implement it. It would be important that such an agency focus on reducing existential risk and not issues that should be left to individual countries, such as defining what an AI should be allowed to say. Third, we need the technical capability to make a superintelligence safe. This is an open research question that we and others are putting a lot of effort into. What’s not in scope We think it’s important to allow companies and open-source projects to develop models below a significant capability threshold, without the kind of regulation we describe here (including burdensome mechanisms like licenses or audits). Today’s systems will create tremendous value in the world and, while they do have risks, the level of those risks feel commensurate with other Internet technologies and society’s likely approaches seem appropriate. By contrast, the systems we are concerned about will have power beyond any technology yet created, and we should be careful not to water down the focus on them by applying similar standards to technology far below this bar. Public input and potential But the governance of the most powerful systems, as well as decisions regarding their deployment, must have strong public oversight. We believe people around the world should democratically decide on the bounds and defaults for AI systems. We don't yet know how to design such a mechanism, but we plan to experiment with its development. We continue to think that, within these wide bounds, individual users should have a lot of control over how the AI they use behaves. Given the risks and difficulties, it’s worth considering why we are building this technology at all. At OpenAI, we have two fundamental reasons. First, we believe it’s going to lead to a much better world than what we can imagine today (we are already seeing early examples of this in areas like education, creative work, and personal productivity). The world faces a lot of problems that we will need much more help to solve; this technology can improve our societies, and the creative ability of everyone to use these new tools is certain to astonish us. The economic growth and increase in quality of life will be astonishing. Second, we believe it would be unintuitively risky and difficult to stop the creation of superintelligence. Because the upsides are so tremendous, the cost to build it decreases each year, the number of actors building it is rapidly increasing, and it’s inherently part of the technological path we are on, stopping it would require something like a global surveillance regime, and even that isn’t guaranteed to work. So we have to get it right. Source Link: https://openai.com/blog/governance-of-superintelligence

Re-live how Brooks Koepka won the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club. May 22, 2023. KENTUCKY, US. Contested each May, the PGA Championship is the second major championship in golf’s annual rotation, and perennially features the strongest field in the men's game based on the Official World Golf Rankings. Known for dramatic finishes and notable champions, the Wanamaker Trophy—which has been awarded to the winner since 1916—is inscribed with names such as McIlroy, Woods, Nicklaus, and Player. The 2024 PGA Championship is set to take place between May 16–19 at Valhalla Golf Club. The reigning champion is Brooks Koepka. Youtube source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beO_g6701CY

March 20, 2023. INDIAN WELLS, California. The 2023 BNP Paribas Open was one for the history books. Look back on two incredible weeks of non-stop entertainment, world-class tennis and more in Tennis Paradise. Source Link: https://bnpparibasopen.com/news/watch-the-story-of-the-2023-bnp-paribas-open/

September 15, 2022. Press Conference of PMLN Leader Uzma Bukhari Source Link: https://pmln.org/2022/09/15/press-conference-of-pmln-leader-uzma-bukhari/

May 10, 2023. LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia. ASEAN LEADERS’ DECLARATION ON ADVANCING REGIONAL PAYMENT CONNECTIVITY AND PROMOTING LOCAL CURRENCY TRANSACTION WE, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, gathered in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, on the occasion of the 42nd ASEAN Summit, on 10 – 11 May 2023; RECALLING the goal of regional economic integration laid out in the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025, which envisions creating a deeply integrated and highly cohesive ASEAN economy that would support sustained high economic growth and resilience, by among others, ensuring that the financial sector is inclusive and stable; ACKNOWLEDGING the role of faster, cheaper, safer, more transparent, and more inclusive cross-border payment systems and services in providing broader benefits to support regional economic growth and the digital economy and RECOGNISING the potential benefits of local currency usage in strengthening financial resilience, deepening regional financial integration by improving intra-ASEAN trade and investment, and bolstering regional value chains; NOTING that various ASEAN initiatives have called for enhancing regional payment connectivity and promoting the use of local currency for cross-border settlement in the region, including the Strategic Action Plan (SAP) for Financial Integration (2016– 2025), the ASEAN Payment Connectivity Initiatives, and ASEAN Guideline on Local Currency Settlement Cooperation Framework (LCSF); REALISING the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF) and its Implementation Plan, which under the Broad Strategy 3: Maximising the Potential of Intra-ASEAN Market and Broader Economic Integration calls for Promoting Local Currency Usage, and the Broad Strategy 4: Accelerating Inclusive Digital Transformation calls for promoting financial inclusion including through digital financial services and regional payment connectivity; EMPHASISING the importance of providing an enabling environment to strengthen regional linkages and payment systems to support faster, cheaper, safer, more transparent, and more inclusive cross border payments to promote the development of local currency markets in the region and reduce foreign exchange risks and volatility; WELCOMING the progress of cooperation on regional payment connectivity and promotion of local currency usage in the region, including among others, the Memorandum of Understanding of Cooperation in Regional Payment Connectivity between Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, the implementation of bilateral LCSF among some ASEAN Member States and NOTING interest of other ASEAN Member States’ interests to join the initiative; HIGHLIGHTING Indonesia’s 2023 Chairmanship’s theme “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth”, which underscores ASEAN’s commitment to ensure that the region remains resilient, effective, and responsive to future regional and global challenges, while at the same time positioning ASEAN as the center of global economic growth. HEREBY DECLARE TO: 1. COMMIT to advancing regional payment connectivity by utilising emerging opportunities brought by innovation to facilitate seamless and secure cross-border payment, taking country circumstances into consideration. 2. ENCOURAGE the use of local currencies for cross-border transactions in the region and support the establishment of a Task Force to explore the development of an ASEAN Local Currency Transaction Framework. 3. SUPPORT further cooperation on advancing regional payment connectivity and facilitating the interoperability of cross-border payment systems, improving infrastructure, accelerating digital payment adoption, deepening financial inclusion, developing human resources, strengthening cybersecurity, and others. 4. SUPPORT further cooperation on promoting local currency transactions and the role of financial sector authorities to reduce the region’s vulnerability to external volatility; promote the creation of efficient pricing discovery, consider the provision of foreign exchange administration flexibility, improve financial market infrastructures, and lower the cost of cross-border transactions. 5. WELCOME the initiative to explore linking the ASEAN Local Currency Transaction Framework initiative with the cross-border payment initiatives, including Regional Payment Connectivity. 6. ENGAGE AND COLLABORATE with ASEAN’s external partners, international organisations, and the private sectors to build cooperation and partnership in advancing regional payment connectivity and promoting local currency transactions. 7. TASK the ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to oversee the implementation and advancement of regional payment connectivity and explore the development of an ASEAN Local Currency Transaction Framework, with the assistance and close coordination among relevant sectoral bodies. Adopted on the Tenth Day of May in the Year Two Thousand and Twenty-Three in a single original copy in the English language. Source Link: https://asean.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/08-ASEAN-Leaders-Declaration-on-Regional-Payment-Connectivity-and-LCT_adopted.pdf

May 11, 2023. NEW YORK. Outstanding US Law-Governed Citi-Issued USD LIBOR CMS Instruments Planned to be Calculated Pursuant to Fallback Provisions after June 30, 2023 On November 14, 2022, ICE Benchmark Administration (“IBA”), the publisher of the USD LIBOR ICE Swap Rate, announced that it intends to cease publication of all ICE Swap Rate settings based on USD LIBOR after June 30, 2023 (the "Cessation Date"). This announcement follows the announcement by the UK Financial Conduct Authority on March 5, 2021, that all USD LIBOR settings will either cease or no longer be representative after the Cessation Date. The USD LIBOR ICE Swap Rate is also referred to as a constant maturity swap (or “CMS”) rate, and in this press release is referred to as the “USD LIBOR CMS Rate”. Citigroup Inc. and certain of its consolidated subsidiaries have issued debt securities, certificates of deposit, preferred stock, asset-backed securities and trust preferred securities that: use the USD LIBOR CMS Rate as a benchmark (i.e., as a reference for calculating or determining one or more valuations, payments or other measurements), will not mature before the Cessation Date and are governed by U.S. law or the law of a U.S. state (“Legacy CMS Instruments”). Citi is issuing this press release to provide notice that, after the Cessation Date, it expects that calculations referencing the USD LIBOR CMS Rate in the Legacy CMS Instruments will no longer be calculated by reference to the USD LIBOR CMS Rate, but instead will be calculated pursuant to the applicable fallback provisions described below. Legacy CMS Instruments Each Legacy CMS Instrument in scope of this press release falls into one of the following categories. Please refer to the corresponding annex for a list of the Legacy CMS Instruments covered by this press release. 1. Initial fallback to dealer quotations Annex 1 lists Legacy CMS Instruments containing fallback provisions that provide that, if the relevant USD LIBOR CMS Rate is not published on any day on which the rate is required, the calculation agent will determine the rate on the basis of quotations provided to the calculation agent by leading swap dealers in the New York City interbank market for the fixed leg of a fixed-for-floating USD interest rate swap transaction, where the floating leg is based on USD LIBOR (as set forth in more detail in the terms of these Legacy CMS Instruments). Under the terms of these Legacy CMS Instruments, if the calculation agent is unable to obtain a sufficient number of such quotations, then the relevant USD LIBOR CMS Rate will be determined by the calculation agent in good faith and using its reasonable judgment. As it is expected that the USD LIBOR CMS Rate will not be published following the Cessation Date, the calculation agent intends following the Cessation Date to request quotations for USD interest rate swap transactions referencing USD LIBOR, as described above. If the calculation agent is able to obtain a sufficient number of such quotations (as set forth in the terms of these Legacy CMS Instruments), then calculations based on the USD LIBOR CMS Rate in these Legacy CMS Instruments will be calculated instead by reference to such quotations. In light of the fact that USD LIBOR is expected to cease or no longer be representative after the Cessation Date, it is currently uncertain whether it will be possible to obtain quotations for USD interest rate swap transactions referencing USD LIBOR (as set forth in more detail in the terms of these Legacy CMS Instruments) after the Cessation Date. In the event that the calculation agent is unable to obtain a sufficient number of such quotations after the Cessation Date, the calculation agent may decide not to request quotations indefinitely, as to do so would serve no purpose. If a sufficient number of quotations are not available on any date of determination for any Legacy CMS Instrument or if the calculation agent has determined prior to such date of determination that it is futile to continue requesting such quotations, the calculation agent intends to follow the approach adopted by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association ("ISDA") for the swaps market and determine the relevant USD LIBOR CMS Rate in accordance with the fallback provisions set forth in Annex 3. Broadly, these fallback provisions consist of using the USD SOFR ICE Swap Rate (“SOFR ISR”), adding the ISDA fallback spread adjustment and applying technical adjustments to account for differences in payment frequency and day count conventions between USD LIBOR swaps and SOFR swaps. IBA has announced that it intends to publish a rate calculated in this manner starting on July 3, 2023. 2. Initial fallback to calculation agent selection of alternative rate Annex 2 lists Legacy CMS Instruments containing fallback provisions that provide that, if the calculation and publication of the relevant USD LIBOR CMS Rate is permanently canceled, then the calculation agent may replace that USD LIBOR CMS Rate with an alternative rate that it determines, in its sole discretion, represents the same or a substantially similar measure or benchmark as that USD LIBOR CMS Rate. For these Legacy CMS Instruments, the calculation agent intends, for all calculations made after the Cessation Date, to replace the relevant USD LIBOR CMS Rate with a fallback rate calculated in accordance with Annex 3. This press release applies only to the Legacy CMS Instruments listed on one of the annexes 1 or 2. The applicable issuer has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for certain of the securities to which this communication relates. Before investing, any investor should read the prospectus in that registration statement and the other documents the issuer has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the issuer and such securities. Any investor may obtain these documents without cost by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, any investor can request these documents from Citigroup Global Markets Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, telephone: (800) 831-9146 or email: prospectus@citi.com. Read Full on Link: https://www.citigroup.com/global/news/press-release/2023/citi-libor-transition-update-05-2023

May 4, 2023 Kazakhstan Stock Exchange is a multifunctional trading platform serving 4 exchange markets of the country: the stock, currency, money and derivatives markets On May 4, 2023, Kazakhstan Stock Exchange JSC (hereinafter – KASE, the Exchange), in honor of its 30th anniversary, together with the Akimdik of the city of Astana and Earth Fund "Sustainable Development" held a solemn ceremony of laying the KASE alley in the Presidential Park of the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan. "This year, Kazakhstan Stock Exchange is celebrating its 30th anniversary. To mark our anniversary, and as part of our sustainable development policy and the promotion of environmentally friendly business standards, we would like to contribute to the development of our capital city Astana and plant 100 seedlings of Sakura, a beautiful long-lived and one of the oldest tree species. May the laying of the KASE alley become a symbol of well-being and prosperity of our capital, country and our national Stock Exchange," pointed out Alina Aldambergen, Chairperson of KASE's Management Board. At the solemn ceremony of laying the KASE alley, the main speakers were also: Managing Director of KASE Yerkin Syzdykov, Head of the Investments and Entrepreneurship Department of the Akimdik of Astana Khalel Akimzhanov, Deputy Director of the Monetary Operations Department of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan Ivan Serdyuk, Chairperson of the Presidium of Earth Fund "Sustainable Development" Dinara Saduakassova. Kazakhstan Stock Exchange is a multifunctional trading platform serving 4 exchange markets of the country: the stock, currency, money and derivatives markets. The mission of the Exchange is to promote the growth of Kazakhstan's economy by creating a wide range of financial instruments to raise capital for domestic issuers, the effective operation of the platform for the redistribution of liquidity in the country's financial system and the provision of transparency and accessibility for local and foreign investors. The Exchange adheres to high standards and corporate values, such as innovativeness, responsibility, openness and care about the future of our country. Over the course of 30 years, from the day of the independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the country's exchange market has been continuously growing and developing. Successively, trading in government securities of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, notes of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan, bonds of corporate issuers started, more than 10 IPOs were held. Last year, the total volume of trading on KASE increased by 50 % having reached 261.6 trillion tenge. During the first 4 months of 2023, the total volume of trading on the Exchange showed an increase of 15% amounting to 98 trillion tenge. For reference Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) is a leading stock exchange in the Central Asian region. KASE occupies the second place among the CIS exchanges in terms of securities trading volume, and the fifth place in terms of the equity market capitalization among the FEAS exchanges. It is a universal trading platform for corporate and government securities, bonds of international financial organizations, foreign currencies, transactions of the money market – repo and swap, as well as derivatives. KASE is a member of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS) and other international and local professional associations, as well as a participant of the UN's "Sustainable Stock Exchanges" initiative. Additional information: +7 (727) 237 53 42, pr@kase.kz. Source Link: https://kase.kz/files/press/en/04_05_2023_KASE_%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B8_%D0%90%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0_eng.pdf

May 09, 2023. WARSAW, Poland. Bank Millennium again came second on the ranking list of best employers in banking and financial services and 32nd among all companies in the 3rd edition of the Best Employers Poland 2023 ranking prepared by Forbes Poland and Statista. Taking the 2nd place in the ranking of the best employers in the banking sector, moreover for the third year in a row, is a great distinction for us. People are the strength of our organisation. We employ 6800 people. Together we create a community, which is the most important asset of the bank. We do everything to make every employee feel good and that together we create a company open to different points of view. Only such a company is able to develop non-standard solutions and better understand customers. Of course, I am very happy with the high place in the ranking, especially since it was based on the opinions and recommendations of own employees. This is confirmation that as an employer we are going in the right direction -said Jacek Chmielewski, Director of the HR Department of Bank Millennium. Poland's Best Employers 2023is a list of 300 companies operating in Poland, whose outstanding achievements in the field of HR have been honoured with the title of the best employer. As Paweł Zielewski, Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine, wrote, this is a guide to companies that give much more than they promise... The survey was based on a list of about 1900 employers employing at least 250 employees in Poland. This list was prepared by the Statista team on the basis of an extensive analysis of inter alia specialist journals and information made available by industry associations or economic research institutions. The ranking was prepared according to the proprietary method of Statista and Forbes, which assumes the assessment of entities on the generally described principle of peer-to-peer mutual recommendations. The basis for awarding the distinction were direct recommendations - respondents filled out an online questionnaire, indicating the probability with which they would recommend their employer to a friend or family member on a scale from 0 to 10. The survey was conducted in the autumn of 2022, during which 190,000 individual employee evaluations were collected. They evaluated their employers in an anonymous questionnaire, thanks to which the real quality of the jobs offered was examined – and not only the success of employer branding campaigns. Source Link: https://www.bankmillennium.pl/en/about-the-bank/press-centre/press-releases/-/news-info/bank-millennium-drugi-w-rankingu-najlepsi-pracodawcy-polska-2023-w-kategorii-banki-i-uslugi-finansowe?news_articleId=31602999

2015. MUMBAI, India. Simplifying healthcare & Impacting lives! PharmEasy is a consumer healthcare “super app” that provides consumers with on-demand, home delivered access to a wide range of prescription, OTC pharmaceutical, other consumer healthcare products, comprehensive diagnostic test services, and teleconsultations thereby serving their healthcare needs. To change the face of healthcare in India, one consumer at a time. 25 Million Registered Users as of Jun 30, 2021 8.8 Million PharmEasy Orders as of FY21 2.4 Million Transacting customers as of FY21 Core Values of PharmEasy To further our vision and goals, we came up with the following core values. Our values are highly instrumental in deciding where we want to go and how we will get there. A sneak peak behind the scenes We believe that great work culture is a vital ingredient to a company’s success. Our team members are encouraged to take ownership and work as a unit. Every team member inspires and motivates other members to contribute to the team’s success. Source Link: https://pharmeasy.in/about-us

December 31, 2022. BEIJING, China. Recently, the Company won the following significant project bids. Now they are published for investors’ reference. The Board of Directors of the Company and each member of the Board of Directors guarantee that the contents of the public announcement contain no false or misleading statements or major omission, and they are jointly and severally liable for the truthfulness, accuracy and completeness of the said contents. Download pdf. at link: https://english.cscec.com/tzgx/Periodicreport/2022/202303/P020230316554853755793.pdf

March 22, 2023. NEW YORK, USA. Call upon other companies to join “Open Call for Water Action” during historic UN 2023 Water Conference Through Business Leaders’ Open Call to Accelerate Water Action, companies commit to build water resilience across operations and supply chains, accelerate collective positive water impact in at least 100 water-stressed basins by 2030 During the opening day of the UN 2023 Water Conference, over 50 of the world’s largest corporations, operating in over 130 countries and employing 2 million people worldwide, launched the Business Leaders’ Open Call for Accelerating Water Action. The Open Call for Water Action is an unprecedented appeal for private sector action to help solve the global water crisis and advance progress on SDG 6 to ensure access to water and sanitation for all. The Open Call provides a unified commitment by the corporate sector to the Water Action Agenda, the main outcome of the historic UN Water Conference. By joining the Open Call for Water Action, companies commit to work to build water resilience across their own global operations and supply chains. They also pledge to work collaboratively across sectors to achieve collective positive water impact in at least 100 prioritized water-stressed basins by 2030. The strategy aims to contribute to water security for 3 billion people, and help enable safe drinking water and sanitation for more than 300 million people. “We need concerted, collective action to ensure that there will be enough water for everyone in the very near future,” said Sanda Ojiambo, Executive Director and CEO of the United Nations Global Compact. “Companies are the world’s largest water users and have a vested interest in ensuring that water resources are managed responsibly, fairly and sustainably. We hope this Open Call will mobilize the action we need to ensure the private sector becomes a good custodian of water resources.” Water insecurity is one of the most pressing sustainability challenges of the 21st century, presenting humanitarian, environmental, and economic concerns. More than 2 billion people lack safe drinking water; a 40 percent water deficit is projected by 2030; and water-protecting ecosystems have experienced rapid destruction. Climate change continues to significantly intensify these risks, adding further urgency to act. CDP estimates that some $300 billion of business value is at risk due to water scarcity, pollution, and climate change. “The Open Call is mobilizing the corporate sector on water in a pivotal new way–through radical collaboration,” said Jason Morrison, President of the Pacific Institute and Head of the CEO Water Mandate. “By bringing together leading companies to act inwardly in their own operations and supply chains and outwardly by joining hands in collective action in basins around the world, the Open Call can catalyze more water action than companies can achieve on their own.” Companies today announcing their commitment to the Business Leaders’ Open Call to Accelerate Action on Water include: AB InBev, ADM, ANDESS, AQUADAT, Arca Continental, AstraZeneca, Banka BioLoo Limited, Bayer, BIOAZUL SL, Braskem, Cargill, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Coca-Cola FEMSA, Colgate-Palmolive, Cristalina Saneamento, Crown Holdings, Inc., Cummins Inc., Danone, Diageo, DOW, DP World, DuPont, Ecolab, Elevate Textiles, Inc., ENGIE, FLSmidth, Gap Inc., Givaudan, GSK, HCL Technologies Limited, HEINEKEN N.V., Inditex, S.A., Inter IKEA Group, Johnson Matthey, Kelani Valley Plantations PLC, Kemira Oyj, KLT Filtration Ltd., Mahindra Group, MGM Resorts International, Microsoft, Nazava Water Filters, Netafim, Orbia, Penta Falcon, PJSC PhosAgro, Recogida General De Residuos y Aguas S.L, Reckitt, Solenis LLC, Starbucks, The Coca-Cola Company, The Crescent Textile Mills Limited, Veolia, VIATRIS, and Xylem. “Water is critical to business and life—and yet two billion people around the world are currently living in water-stressed areas,” said Christophe Beck, Chairman and CEO of Ecolab. “Businesses must accelerate action to help address the global water crisis. We have all the solutions we need to produce business growth and protect human lives. I call on my peers in the private sector to join us in this ambitious movement to build a water-resilient future.” Dolf van den Brink, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board at Heineken N.V., said: “Our water strategy focuses on water efficiency, circularity and watershed health protection, especially in water-stressed areas. Over the last decade, we have learned that collective action is a critical enabler to create more systemic change, as we have seen in Indonesia and Mexico where we operate. The Open Call will empower organisations to mobilise behind common water basins to drive collective action at scale and create a water resilient future for all.” The Open Call for Water Action is led by the CEO Water Mandate, a partnership between the UN Global Compact and the Pacific Institute to advance corporate water stewardship around the world. It is also championed by the Water Resilience Coalition, a CEO-led initiative of the CEO Water Mandate that aims to elevate water action to the top of corporate agendas. The Open Call is also supported by the International Chamber of Commerce, Ceres, the Alliance for Water Stewardship, and AquaFed. The Open Call is part of the broader 2030 strategy of the Water Resilience Coalition. The Water Resilience Coalition Investment Portfolio, launched on 16 March 2023, is an example of one initiative companies can participate in as part of the Open Call. This innovative investment platform has identified an investment pipeline of at least US$1 billion in capital market investment instruments to accelerate action on water resilience and SDG 6. Five member companies of the Water Resilience Coalition and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) last week announced $139 million of investments in the Portfolio’s first fund. The fund will focus on supporting water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) initiatives to impact 5 million people in 8 countries. The Open Call for Water Action is available at wateractionnow.org. Notes to Editors About the CEO Water Mandate The CEO Water Mandate is a partnership between the UN Global Compact and the Pacific Institute that mobilizes business leaders on water, sanitation, and the Sustainable Development Goals for corporate water stewardship. Mandate endorsers commit to continuous progress against six core elements (direct operations, supply chain and watershed management, collective action, public policy, community engagement and transparency) and in so doing understand and manage their own water risks. For more information, follow @H2O_stewards on Twitter or visit ceowatermandate.org. About the United Nations Global Compact As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 17,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 69 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting business for a better world. For more information, visit our website at unglobalcompact.org. About the Pacific Institute Founded in 1987, the Pacific Institute is a global water think tank that combines science-based thought leadership with active outreach to influence local, national, and international efforts in developing sustainable water policies. From working with Fortune 500 companies to disenfranchised communities, our mission is to create and advance solutions to the world’s most pressing water challenges. Since 2009, the Pacific Institute has also acted as co-secretariat for the UN Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate, a global commitment platform that mobilizes a critical mass of business leaders to address global water challenges through corporate water stewardship. For more information, follow @PacificInstitut on Twitter, and visit pacinst.org. About the Water Resilience Coalition The Water Resilience Coalition is an industry-driven, CEO-led initiative of the United Nations Global Compact CEO Water Mandate that aims to elevate the long-term mounting crisis of global water stress to the top of the corporate agenda and to preserve the world’s freshwater resources through collective action in water-stressed basins and ambitious, quantifiable commitments. For more information, visit ceowatermandate.org/resilience. Contact For inquiries please contact: UN Global Compact Alexandra Gee gee@unglobalcompact.org CEO Water Mandate / Water Resilience Coalition Ilsa Ruiz Hughes iruiz@pacinst.org Contact UN Global Compact Media Media media@unglobalcompact.org Source Link: https://unglobalcompact.org/news/5047-03-22-2023