SIWI is tasked with the overall project management, and contributes with policy research, outreach efforts and reporting. SIWI and the buying companies have formed a Management Group (MG) that meets regularly over the course of the project to plan and monitor implementation in close touch with the Indian consultant, cKinetics. The consultant’s role is to identify saving opportunities, build capacities, and provide technical assistance to the Indian factories throughout the programme.

The model that this project works on showcases opportunities for resource-savings, which lead to increased profitability margins. The participating units will then receive training and technical sup-port to achieve such savings on both the short- and long-term.

The SWAR programme involves 16 factories in the National Capital Region of Delhi, of which seven dyeing and printing and nine garment units; the factories are spread out over an area of 2,000 km2. In Rajasthan, the Jaipur Integrated Texcraft Park Ltd (JITP or ‘Jaipur Bloc’) is a new and aspiring state-of-the-art textile park set up some 25 km outside Jaipur with support from the Government of India’s ‘Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks’.

As members of the JITP, 13 hand-block printing factories and four partly new and relatively small dyeing factories have signed up to the SWAR programme (the JITP also counts as a SWAR unit). These are prepared to move and start operating as soon as all due consents are in place and the Park officially opened (tentatively in September); some block printing units are however already in full swing. The Park and its facilities being new, assessments, baseline figures, systems for tracking and measuring resource consumption, equipment and savings advice and targets all look different compared with the Delhi factories. The programme is hence divided into four different segments: Delhi dyeing units; Delhi garment units; Jaipur dyeing units; and Jaipur block print units, respectively. These have by necessity been treated differently along with the diverge conditions and needs applying to them.

Both the financing and technical models of this programme have so far received significant attention in Sweden, India and internationally.

Project Info

• Project Team: Rami Abdelrahman, Jenny Grönwall
• Partners: Indiska, KappAhl, Lindex and 39 of their suppliers and sub-suppliers in Delhi and Jaipur.
• Consultant: cKinetics
• Co-financed by: project partners and Sida.
• Timeline: 2013-2014

SIWI is part of the Swedish Pavilion at Rio+ 20 in the Athleats Park organized by the Swedish Trade Council. SIWI has among other things held two presentations about the World Water Week in Stockholm under its theme: Water and Food Security. SIWI was also present and presented its engagement at Rio+20 at the visit of their Royal Majesties and the Swedish delegation including Hon. Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for Development and Cooperation and Hon. Lena Ek, Minister of Environment.

Water Food and Energy Nexus – A Fundament for Green Economy
On June 15 SIWI co-convened together with KTH a side event about the value of addressing water, food and energy through and integrated approach. Speakers included: Per Bertilsson, Acting Executive Director SIWI; Mark Howell, KTH; and Hans H. Rogner, IAEA. A conclusion of the side event was that there is a need to address the water, food and energy in a holistic manner in planning for a sustainable future.

UN Watercourses Convention

On June 14 SIWI co-convened together with WWF and Green Cross a side event about the ratification and entry into force of the Un Watercourse Convention.

The UNWC offers legal stability and consistency for preventing and dealing with water-related disputes in a peaceful and equitable manner. In a changing climate, the Convention also serves as a flexible instrument to support mutually beneficial interstate cooperation and cross-border adaptive freshwater management and protection, as well as to contribute to the achievement of key policy goals and other environmental agreements.

At the side event the convening organizations urged governments and the international community at large to acknowledge the transboundary and global dimensions of climate change in relation to water; and, accordingly, to strengthen international law as a key tool supporting and facilitating transboundary water cooperation.

Mr Per Bertilsson, Acting Executive Director of SIWI held a presentation at the side event, about the importance of countries uniting and ratifying the convention to support the management around shared waters.

Sustainable Water Use in Textile Production – A Case for Cooperation
On June 16 the Government of Sweden hosted a session at the UN Global Compact’s Rio +20 Corporate Sustainability Forum where SIWI was the partner’s coordinator. On behalf of SIWI Ms Karin Lexén, Director of SWH at SIWI and board member of STWI, presented the main lessons learned from the Sweden Textile Water Initiative (STWI). STWI was founded to promote sustainable water use in the textile and leather industry. Over the course of two years, 33 Swedish companies have worked together with SIWI to develop guidelines for sustainable water use. Other speakers included Mr Torgny Holmgren, Ambassador and head of the Department for Development Policy, Sweden Ministry for Foreign Affairs; Stuart Orr, Manger Freshwater Team, WWF International; Dov Brachfeld, Global Environmental Sustainability Controller, H&M.

Taking part in the Swedish Delegation as adviser
Karin Lexén takes part in the negotiations as an adviser to the Swedish delegation:
“We are in a critical phase of the negotiations. The Brazilians have put a text on the table that builds on the negotiated text of the Zero Draft. It is attempts to serve as a compromise but in many critical parts the text has been diluted.

There is a water section in the text but the paragraph on transboundary waters has been deleted and the text on drinking water and sanitation as a human right has been weakened, so right now there is an important momentum for a push on the water issue as the negotiations continue”.

The project focuses on water issues in the supply chains of textile and leather retailers with the aim contributing to wiser water management, from thread and raw hide to product. During its first two years, the STWI companies have formed working groups on topics such as production technique, wastewater treatment, pollution prevention, and policy engagement, which have served as platforms for a learning process and knowledge exchange.

STWI has now published its guidelines for sustainable water and chemical use in the textile and leather supply chains. These guidelines will be used by the companies in their communication with suppliers.

STWI Guidelines Document

Read the Short Version of the Guidelines document.