Intel Affirms the Human Right to Water

Last Friday, March 19 — on the eve of World Water Day and in response to a shareholder resolution by NorthStar Asset Management, Inc., that was cofiled by UUSC — Intel, one of the world's largest manufacturers of semiconductor chips, adopted a formal policy that supports the human right to water.

As Todd Brady, Intel's global environmental manager, said in a post on the Intel Corporate Social Responsibility blog, "We concluded that formally establishing a policy that documents our current practices and acknowledges the importance of water as a natural resource would help guide our future decision making, formalize our commitment and perhaps in a small way help raise the recognition of water as a valuable resource. In short, it was simply the smart and the right thing to do." Intel has a particular responsibility to the human right to water: the production of semiconductor chips involves massive amounts of water; Intel reported using 7.8 billion gallons of water in 2008.

Spearheaded by NorthStar Asset Management, with technical assistance from UUSC staff, the shareholder resolution that was filed last fall outlined arguments for a proposed policy based on the principles expressed in the United Nations' definition of the human right to water: the safety, sufficiency, acceptability, physical accessibility, and affordability of water. And Intel responded. "This agreement moves beyond the vague promises of water conservation that many corporations purport," says Julie Goodridge, CEO of NorthStar Asset Management. "It fully commits the company to respecting the human right to sufficient clean water, as well as individuals' rights to be involved in the development of processes that extract water from their communities."

Intel's newly articulated dedication to the human right to water will help influence other corporations as well as governments to state — and, more importantly, act on — the same commitment. UUSC welcomes Intel's new water policy and will continue working to ensure that the human-right-to-water obligations of the private sector are implemented. Commitments are made to be lived up to.