RBC Blue Water Project donates $2.7 million to protect water in cities and towns worldwide

Climate change means more than just a rise in average temperatures. It also means an increase in extreme and unpredictable weather events, changes in water quality and availability in different regions. This can have a significant impact on urbanized areas, where so many people often depend on a single source of fresh water. The RBC Blue Water Project 2014 Leadership and Community Action Grants will fund programs that improve urban water quality, enhance stormwater management and protect and restore urban waterways.

'Water is one of the most precious resources on earth. Everything we do depends on it - it is vital to our social and economic well-being,' said Gord Nixon, CEO, RBC. 'We are honoured to support the important efforts of this year's grant recipients, whose programs reflect our new focus on water issues in urbanized areas, where so many of our employees and clients live and work. I am confident that these organizations will help create a future with swimmable, drinkable and fishable water.'

This year, RBC Blue Water Project Leadership and Community Action Grants, total more than $2.7 million in funding for fresh water protection and preservation programs. Awarded on the company's annual RBC Blue Water Day, these grants support 134 organizations spanning seven countries, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, China, Chile and Australia.

'It's been said that 2013 was the 'year of the urban flood',' said Robert Sandford, Chair of the UN Water for Life Decade and spokesperson for the RBC Blue Water Project. 'The infrastructure in our towns and cities just wasn't built to withstand the impact of extreme weather events, so I'm very happy to see that so many of RBC's grants are directed to stormwater management, which I believe is one of most pressing issues of our time.'

Source

Media

Taxonomy

• Water Security
• Drinking Water