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Environment
Lack of access to clean fresh water is considered to be one
of the major threats to human health and economic development
around the world. The RBC Blue Water Project is a historic
10-year, $50 million commitment to support charitable organizations
dedicated to finding global solutions to the water crisis.
The project was kicked off with a $10-million commitment to
ONE DROP*, founded by Cirque du Soleil's Guy Laliberté.
In the first nine months of the RBC Blue Water Project alone,
we committed $11.8 million to organizations working in the
areas of watershed protection and access to clean drinking
water. By year-end, we had committed a total of $13.2 million
to 64 organizations worldwide. Leadership grants, ranging
from $25,000 to $500,000 each, were awarded to charitable
causes that help foster a culture of water stewardship, including:
Canada
- The Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources.
Our contribution will fund an online education tool to improve
watershed management in traditional territories in British
Columbia, Nova Scotia and Alberta, where inadequate resources
and capacity often limit a community's ability to engage
in watershed planning.
- Learning for a Sustainable Future. We are supporting
a Water Action Project Program for elementary and secondary
school children across Canada, with a focus on underserviced
schools and First Nations communities.
- The Yukon Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness
Society. Our donation will help protect the Three Rivers
watershed in the Yukon, a hotspot for mineral and fossil
fuel extraction, and traditional territory of the Na-cho
Nyak Dun and Tetl'it Gwich'in First Nations.
- Green Communities Foundation. Many wells and communal
drinking systems are at risk of contamination in Aboriginal
communities. Our grant will fund the "Well Aware"
Program, providing education about well-water monitoring
in Aboriginal communities in northeastern Ontario.
H20 Chelsea Partners. Many rural regions and municipalities
in Quebec rely exclusively on groundwater. The health of
these communities depends on monitoring, education and legislation
to protect water resources. Our grant supports the development
of a model for managing groundwater issues to be shared
across the province of Quebec.
- Royal Botanical Gardens. Our grant will fund the
remediation of a seriously degraded wetlands area caused
by heavy industry and urban development in Hamilton, Ontario.
- Waterlution. RBC supports water education workshops
for young leaders who are working on water issues in several
locations across Canada, with a focus on water issues in
First Nation communities.
- Lake Ontario Waterkeeper's (LOW). Our contribution
supports the restoration of water quality in Lake Ontario
by enabling communities through education, empowerment and
access to an expert network. It will also help create a
model of watershed protection for Canada and the Great Lakes.
- Tides Canada Foundation's Great Bear Rainforest campaign.
We have pledged $500,000 to ensure a healthy future for
British Columbia's north and central coasts called The Great
Bear Rainforest. Our donation will fund conservation management
and sustainable economic development in First Nations communities
in the region.
- Ducks Unlimited of Canada, Project Webfoot. RBC
supports the conservation, restoration and management of
wetlands to ensure they continue to provide ecological benefits
for people and wildlife. Wetlands affect the availability
and safety of our drinking water and protect against floods
and shoreline soil erosion.
United States
- North Carolina State Engineering Foundation. Our
grant will fund an outreach program to educate elected officials
and community leaders about water management issues in this
quickly growing region which suffers from limited opportunities
to develop new water resources.
- World Wildlife Fund. There is a lack of credible
data on the ecological health of the Little Tennessee River,
a watershed that supports a region undergoing tremendous
growth. Our grant will fund a project to monitor and map
the watershed, and train community water monitors.
- Donors Choose. It is increasingly common for teachers
to spend their own money on classroom materials, especially
in rural and disadvantaged inner city communities. Our grant
will help public school teachers all across the United States
purchase classroom supplies for projects dealing with water.
- Friends of the Mississippi River. Rapid growth
of the real estate and agricultural sectors are leading
to increased sources of water pollution. Our grant will
support community outreach and education with landowners
to restore and protect sensitive natural areas and rare
habitats.
- Alabama Coastal Foundation. Rapid urbanization
and construction has caused a loss of wetlands and serious
degradation of water quality in this region. Our grant will
support the development of best practices for homeowners
and businesses about non-point water source pollution and
wetland protection.
Caribbean
- In 2008, RBC announced a US$300,000 contribution to the
Institute for Public Health and Water Research. In
collaboration with the Global Water Partnership, the funds
will support a pilot project to educate students, parents
and teachers in rural communities on water harvesting, water
conservation, and flood abatement.
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