Flavor and fragrance business Firmenich has hosted the Global Compact Network Switzerland’s (GCNS) General Assembly in a bid to highlight its ongoing commitment to sustainability and improving access to clean water and sanitation across the globe.

During the assembly a panel discussion took place with world experts to discuss how to best move forward in their sustainability goals. With some of the 100 attendees including members of the Global Compact Network Switzerland, the Swiss Confederation, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and State Secretariat for Economic Affairs), academic institutions and international organizations.

With around 2.5 billion people globally without access to adequate sanitation, 800,000 children dying every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water, poor sanitation and lack of hygiene, it was a heated debate as to how to tackle the crisis.

Dr. Bérangère Magarinos-Ruchat, Vice-President Sustainability Partnerships Firmenich said, “We know we cannot solve such a great challenge alone. That’s why we partner with likeminded visionary experts, cutting across all sectors, to scale up our impact together.”

Meanwhile Cheryl Hicks, Executive Director, The Toilet Board Coalition, said, “Business has an integral role to play if we are to solve the sanitation crisis at scale. By working hand-in-hand with development experts, businesses can focus on scalable, commercially sustainable solutions to help deliver universal and resilient sanitation through the market.”

Firmenich is said to be using ‘cutting edge technologies to counteract malodor, as well as helping its customers to develop sustainable hygiene solutions.’ Meanwhile other companies explained the importance of online education and the importance of public-private partnerships to ‘scale-up impact in the area of water.’

This was highlighted by the GCNS impressing that its increased its commitment to promote and improve CSR and sustainable business across Switzerland.

Antonio Hautle, Senior Programme Leader, GCNS, said, “The public-private partnership with the Swiss Confederation is very helpful in this process.”