Distribution Network
Content
Coca-Cola is to consult more fully with local communities around its
facilities after having suffered bad publicity about the effects of its
operations worldwide on the alleged depletion of local water supplies.
The US-based multinational denies being an irresponsible user of water, but concedes it has lost the argument in some areas and is seen as a culprit.
The criticism has come at a sensitive time for the company, which has been building a presence in the fast-growing global bottled water market, particularly in Europe, where it has recently made a number of strategic acquisitions in an bid to close the gap on Danone and Nestlé, the market leaders. Bottled water accounted for more than a third of total worldwide volume sales of soft drinks in 2005, according to Euromonitor International.
Coca-Cola is now seeking to reinforce trust in its brands globally by improving the quality of its conversations with interested parties in India and elsewhere. It has fallen foul of heavy campaigning in India’s Kerala state and some other locations over allegations that its bottling plants contribute to local water shortages (EP7, issue 2, p8).
Neville Isdel, Coca-Cola’s chief executive, said water would now be a ‘key focus’ of corporate responsibility programmes. ‘What Kerala has taught us is that we need engagement with local communities at an early stage, and to listen and learn,’ he said. ‘That is something we haven’t done often enough or well enough.’ Isdel said the company had not been sufficiently engaged with civil society in relation to some of its facilities. This had enabled campaigners to push the perception that Coca-Cola has been a major cause of water shortages.
He said: ‘We need to engage with the communities around us to ensure the health of local watersheds and to [earn] our social and environmental licence to operate. We also need to increase our commitments to the communities from which we draw water. In Kerala, for instance, we are in no way the largest user of water – in fact, we are a very small user – but that’s not to say there isn’t a serious problem with diminishing groundwater, and that’s why we have to set out how to play our part.’ The company, which uses 73 billion gallons of water a year worldwide, has now installed rain collection systems in 28 plants for use in its own processes and to recharge local aquifers. It will take part in the Global Water Challenge, a UN drinking-water and hygiene education programme, and is also setting up programmes in various countries, such as Kenya, where it will provide safe water for 500 schools in Nairobi.
In addition, the company has a global water stewardship policy that commits it to become ‘best-in-class at water management’, to provide clean drinking water for under-served communities where it operates, to support the protection of watersheds, and to ‘mobilize the international community ... around water challenges’. Each of the company’s 31 divisions has been told to produce business plans that take account of water as a resource.
The US-based multinational denies being an irresponsible user of water, but concedes it has lost the argument in some areas and is seen as a culprit.
The criticism has come at a sensitive time for the company, which has been building a presence in the fast-growing global bottled water market, particularly in Europe, where it has recently made a number of strategic acquisitions in an bid to close the gap on Danone and Nestlé, the market leaders. Bottled water accounted for more than a third of total worldwide volume sales of soft drinks in 2005, according to Euromonitor International.
Coca-Cola is now seeking to reinforce trust in its brands globally by improving the quality of its conversations with interested parties in India and elsewhere. It has fallen foul of heavy campaigning in India’s Kerala state and some other locations over allegations that its bottling plants contribute to local water shortages (EP7, issue 2, p8).
Neville Isdel, Coca-Cola’s chief executive, said water would now be a ‘key focus’ of corporate responsibility programmes. ‘What Kerala has taught us is that we need engagement with local communities at an early stage, and to listen and learn,’ he said. ‘That is something we haven’t done often enough or well enough.’ Isdel said the company had not been sufficiently engaged with civil society in relation to some of its facilities. This had enabled campaigners to push the perception that Coca-Cola has been a major cause of water shortages.
He said: ‘We need to engage with the communities around us to ensure the health of local watersheds and to [earn] our social and environmental licence to operate. We also need to increase our commitments to the communities from which we draw water. In Kerala, for instance, we are in no way the largest user of water – in fact, we are a very small user – but that’s not to say there isn’t a serious problem with diminishing groundwater, and that’s why we have to set out how to play our part.’ The company, which uses 73 billion gallons of water a year worldwide, has now installed rain collection systems in 28 plants for use in its own processes and to recharge local aquifers. It will take part in the Global Water Challenge, a UN drinking-water and hygiene education programme, and is also setting up programmes in various countries, such as Kenya, where it will provide safe water for 500 schools in Nairobi.
In addition, the company has a global water stewardship policy that commits it to become ‘best-in-class at water management’, to provide clean drinking water for under-served communities where it operates, to support the protection of watersheds, and to ‘mobilize the international community ... around water challenges’. Each of the company’s 31 divisions has been told to produce business plans that take account of water as a resource.
Super Featured
No
Featured
No