Corporate news announcement processed and transmitted by Hugin AS.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this 
announcement. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------    




Washington, D.C., November 23, 2009 - A new report released today by
the 2030 Water Resources Group, Charting Our Water Future, shows that
growing water scarcity can be mitigated affordably and sustainably.
By providing greater clarity on the scale of the water challenge and
the cost of the solutions, it offers a fact-based tool to help
stakeholders make informed investment decisions and guide policy
discussions. It finds that if no action is taken, by 2030, projected
population and economic growth will lead to global water demand that
is 40% in excess of current supply. In addition, this means that
one-third of the world's population would have access to only half
the water they need, living in water basins with a 50% deficit in
supply.

In the foreword to the Charting Our Water Future, His Royal Highness
the Prince of Orange, Chairman of the United Nations
Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, states
that "the future water gap can be closed. If water is to be
everyone's business, then stakeholders will need to come together in
waterscarce countries to make some difficult trade-offs on the road
to water resource security. This report's contribution is to create a
common economic language which all stakeholders can use in
participating in that conversation."

At the basis of the report lies an analysis conducted in four
countries with drastically different water issues, which will
collectively account for 40 percent of the world's population, 30
percent of global GDP and 42 percent of projected water demand in
2030: China, India, South Africa and Brazil (Sao Paulo state). The
report's methodology identifies supply- and demand-side measures that
could constitute a more cost effective approach to closing the water
resource gap in each country and even achieve savings in some
sectors.

Moreover, the report shows that if a balanced portfolio of demand-
and supply-side measures is adopted in each country, the projected
water requirements in 2030 can be met at an estimated cost of $19
billion per year for these countries, or just under 0.06% of their
combined forecast GDP for 2030. At a global level, the cost would
amount to an estimated $50-60 billion. In contrast, if only
traditional supply-side measures are implemented, an additional
capital expenditure of up to $200 billion per year globally would be
required to close the water gap. This is four times more than the
balanced approach and more than double what is currently spent on
water resource provision.

While the need for additional water is global, both the challenges
and the solutions differ across geographies given the drastic
variations from basin to basin. This report offers a set of tools for
decision-makers to design tailored programs to close the water gap.
In India, for example, demand is driven largely by growth in the
agricultural sector (80% of all water demand) as it tries to cope
with a burgeoning population moving towards a middle-class diet. The
most cost-effective solutions identified for India are, therefore,
dominated by agricultural measures, both in irrigated and rain-fed
crop production, which can collectively close 80% of the projected
gap in 2030. On the other hand, in South Africa, agriculture is
expected to account for only 47% of water demand in 2030, while
household and industrial demand will account for 53%. As a result,
the most cost-effective solutions will include some agricultural
measures, but also a range of industrial efficiency measures, in
mining for instance, and common household measures, such as improved
plumbing fixtures.

Across all regions studied, many of the most cost-effective measures
identified, especially those that increase efficiency and
productivity of water use, can pay back their initial capital
investment in three years or less.

About the 2030 Water Resources Group. The Group was formed in 2008 to
contribute new insights to the critical issue of water scarcity.
Members include McKinsey & Company, the International Finance
Corporation (IFC, part of the World Bank Group), and a consortium of
business partners: The Barilla Group, The Coca-Cola Company, Nestlé
SA, New Holland Agriculture, SABMiller plc, Standard Chartered and
Syngenta AG.

For more information, and to see a copy of the report, please visit
Nestlé Events page.

Follow the live webcast hosted by the World Bank at 15:00 CET, 9:00
EST, 10:00 Beijing.


 
--- End of Message ---

Nestlé S.A.
Avenue Nestlé 55 Vevey 

WKN: 887208; ISIN: 
CH0012056047; Index: SLCI, SMI, SPI, SMIEXP;
Listed: Main Market in SIX Swiss Exchange;



Copyright © Hugin AS 2009. All rights reserved.