Nearly 663 million people around the world do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. The entire human race depends upon 0.007% of the entire planet's water for its needs. By 2030, half of the world's population will be living under severe water stress, while in some regions scarcity of water is already leading to change in quality of lifestyle.
To raise awareness around access and security of water supply line in Malta, HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c. launched a wide-ranging water conservation initiative, the HSBC Water Programme - Catch the Drop, in 2013.
The HSBC Water Programme - Catch the Drop is the largest ever national environmental and educational campaign of its kind in Malta and aims to forge a blueprint for progress on sustainability of water as a resource. The programme aims to educate every school-going child in Malta - comprising nearly 50,000 students - and encourages schools, corporates, NGOs, general public, and local councils to actively participate.
This collaborative spirit is rooted in the history of the programme.
In February 2011, Catch the Drop was launched by the Government of Malta to show that water is a concern for all and to emphasise the importance that one's behaviour may be adapted to achieve responsible and sustainable usage.
Objectives
- To raise a consciousness that water is a concern for us all
- To encourage conservation and efficient use of water
- To emphasise the importance that one's behaviour may be adapted to achieve responsible and sustainable usage
- To increase awareness of the challenges of water scarcity and drought
- To highlight the importance of desalination plants
- To increase understanding of the link between food and water
- To illustrate and celebrate 'good' water practices
The Government of Malta, together with HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c., submitted the proposal of the Catch the Drop to the international HSBC Water Programme in
October 2012.
The HSBC Water Programme is a five year US$100m partnership of the HSBC Group with Earthwatch, WaterAid and WWF, three non-government organisations that rank amongst the world's most respected environmental and sustainable development organisations. The programme promotes sustainable water use through education and donations to specific water projects. It was launched in June 2012.
Thanks to the innovative nature of the proposal, the joint Catch the Drop proposal by the Government and HSBC Bank Malta won €500,000 in funding from the HSBC Group. Thus, the HSBC Water Programme - Catch the Drop was born.
Impact of operations on the Maltese environment
The HSBC Water Programme - Catch the Drop has been developed into a strategic three-year campaign with particular emphasis on:
Year 1 Water shortage in Malta
Year 2 Water consumption reduction in Malta
Year 3 Water harvesting in schools and local councils
As the campaign carries the ambition to create a long-term impact, students in
Malta and Gozo have been the first and primary beneficiaries of HSBC Water
Programme - Catch the Drop.
Awareness
The HSBC Water Programme - Catch the Drop is rooted in Malta's education system. By reaching out to every single school child in Malta, the campaign is working to increase awareness. This is far more important in reality than funding a more efficient desalination plant. Achieving sustainability is mostly about getting people to understand the responsibility they have for saving resources.
The HSBC Water Programme - Catch the Drop believes that the bottom-up educational approach being taken is very effective at promoting long-term positive change. At the start of the programme in scholastic year 2013-14, the total number of school children in all the State, Church and Independent schools for the scholastic year were documented to be approximately 46, 094, including the Year 1 and Year 2 Primary classes.
Whilst the campaign targets mainly students from Year 3 students upwards, it has been successful in reaching some of the students also in Year 1 and 2, Kindergarten, and tertiary education institutions.
Awareness is also being realised through a variety of activities beyond the presentations such as a travelling forum theatre, drama performances, educational shows, workshops, and printed material.
In addition, the programme has consistently organised activities around the World Water Day 2014, 2015, and 2016, as well as the 400th Anniversary of the Wignacourt Aqueduct, during the carnival season, during Skola Sajf, and at public exhibitions.
Projects
At the beginning of the scholastic year 2013-14, the HSBC Water Programme -
Catch the Drop campaign invited students and schools to forward proposals to win funding for water conservation projects. Projects submitted by individual students were evaluated under the 'School Outreach Programme', while those by schools and local councils (from 2014 onwards for local councils) were evaluated under the 'Community Outreach Programme'.
In scholastic year 2013-14, the campaign received a total of 30 proposals, out of which 21 secured funding.
In 2014-15, 23 projects at schools and 3 at local councils have been selected for further implementation.
In 2015-16, 28 schools, NGOs and local councils have been announced as winners of funding grants.
The projects range from installation of efficient irrigation systems to replacement of water taps, and from distribution of reusable water bottles to recycling bags.