Coca-Cola Study Highlights 'Water Neutrality' Idea
Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) has released "Drinking It In: The Evolution of a Global Water Stewardship Program at The Coca-Cola Company." Researched and written by Linda Hwang and other members of BSR's Environmental Research & Development team, this new study explores the role of the private sector in responsible management of water resources.
"By chronicling the journey of The Coca-Cola Company over five years, this case study demonstrates how companies can be proactively involved in water management along their supply chains and within their own facilities," said Emma Stewart, Ph.D., director of Environmental R&D at BSR. "This report profiles one company's experience in advancing an integrated water strategy throughout its global operations and promoting the groundbreaking concept of 'water neutrality.'"
As a company that operates in nearly 200 countries around the world, The Coca-Cola Company is keenly aware of the challenges facing the world's water resources. Today the company is the only organization in the world that has publicly pledged to achieve "water neutrality" across its global operations, which span more than 100 basins and sub-basins.
"We recognize the challenge in a goal as complex as 'water neutrality' and have sought extensive external input from other companies, non-governmental organizations, and universities as to how it might be defined," said Jeff Seabright, vice president of Environment & Water Resources. "We're focusing on quantifying our global water footprint so that we can develop a process to return an amount of water equal to what we use in our operations."
You can download the report at this link: www.bsr.org/reports/Coke_Water_Study_March_2008.pdf.