Gérard Mestrallet, CEO and President of the Executive Board of Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux presented the group's Environmental Charter at a speech before the Comité 21 where he spoke on the theme: Our responsibility for sustainable development - ethics and know-how. The Charter gives formal status to the Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux commitment to the environment, as well as to upholding in its activities the principles of sustainable development. The Charter's adoption entailed widespread involvement of the Group's business areas, and was approved by the Ethics and Environment Committee of the Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux Board of Directors.

Beyond the collective commitment it reflects, the Charter is a tool for internal progress, the forging of joint initiatives and ensuring uniform development of the Group's environmental policy. This initiative reinforces policies that have long been in place with certain Group businesses, policies which have produced concrete results at several sites throughout the world. Among them: energy use optimization and CO2 emissions control through trigeneration (electricity generation, heating, and cooling) in Lisbon; drinking water supply and waste water collection in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, La Paz, and Casablanca; the recovery and treatment of clinkers from incinerators of household waste for use in road building.

The Charter has been published in the form of booklet, joining those devoted to the Group's shared values, its commitments in the areas of ethics, social relations, organization, and the conduct of the companies which compose it. The Environmental Charter is being distributed in all Group companies and will also be available for consultation on the Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux Internet site.

François Kaisin, the Group's environment officer reporting to Thierry Chambolle, Senior Vice President of Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, is responsible for ensuring the application of the principles contained in the Environmental Charter.

French Committee for the Environment and Sustainable Development, a non-profit organization created in 1995 following the Rio Conference. Its mission is to work with all private and public interests to develop information programs and joint initiatives addressing major environmental and sustainable development challenges. The Committee has over 230 members today, which include businesses, regional agencies, governments, non-profit organizations, public agencies, and the media.