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Veolia participates in the 2019 Convergences Forum on the theme of "Inequalities - Transitions - Solutions"

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On 5-6 September in Paris, the 12th Convergences World Forum gathered 5,000 economic, political, NGO, academic and media leaders from 50 countries to develop innovative co-constructed solutions. Veolia contributed to debates on "purpose" and new cooperation for the circular economy.

 

Purpose: reconciling business and society

Speaking at the round table on "Purpose: a new social contract", Pierre Victoria, Director of Sustainable Development at Veolia, recalled that the term "purpose ", highlighted in the Senard-Notat report, prompted many actors in France to consider how to reconcile business and society. Among them, the Veolia Chairman and CEO Antoine Frérot very soon affirmed his belief:

A business prospers because it is useful to all its stakeholders and not the other way around.
Antoine Frérot
CEO of Veolia

 

Veolia’s purpose thus responds to a broader vision of its usefulness in serving all its stakeholders.

Beyond simply CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), having a purpose has made it possible to align all stakeholders on the utility of the company: in what way is Veolia useful to society, what is our mission, in what way are we specific? This definition of Veolia’s usefulness was drawn up by the company management, the board of directors, the external stakeholder committee (Critical Friends) and the employee representative committee.
Pierre Victoria
Director of Sustainable Development at Veolia

Four months and 13 versions of the text were needed to develop the Group’s purpose with all its stakeholders. The second step is to establish a dashboard that will be validated by the Board of Directors in December 2019, to support its introduction.

Our goal is to use this dashboard as a management tool that will demonstrate economic, financial, environmental and social performance, as well as performance in terms of customer satisfaction, ethics and compliance. This work is done with all our stakeholders.
Pierre Victoria

New cooperation for the circular economy

Amélie Rouvin, Head of Environment and Circular Economy Commitment at Veolia, participated in a round table discussion on the theme: "New cooperation for the circular economy?" Veolia believes it is the cooperation between all stakeholders (business, local authorities, NGOs, citizens) that transforms production processes, marketing and uses in the territories. So in Durban, under the first public-private partnership in South Africa, Veolia recycles 98% of the SWTW treatment plant's wastewater in a region suffering from high water stress. In 2018 with Africwaste the Group launched an initiative aimed at structuring a plastic bottle recycling sector in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) alongside local stakeholders and communities. Finally in partnership with the social and solidarity economy start-up Eqosphere, it assists retailers to reduce waste in France. 

About Convergences: created in 2008, Convergences is a reflection and mobilization platform focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and building a world of "Zero exclusion, Zero carbon, Zero poverty". Convergences relies on more than 200 partner organizations and brings together around 5,000 participants every year in Paris. It allows committed professionals to meet and develop their initiatives, offering them a fertile ground for the creation of partnerships in the general interest.