July 17, 2013 -- A long-standing partnership between the Coca-Cola Company and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was formed to help advance environmental stewardship -- particularly in the area of water -- across the globe with new sustainability goals through 2020.
Building on the initial successes of their nearly decade-long partnership, Coca-Cola and WWF have agreed to extend their efforts by meeting ambitious new water conservation and performance targets, promoting the integration of water value into decision-making processes and convening influential partners to help solve shared global environmental challenges.
"At Coca-Cola, we are deeply committed to working with partners to address our collective environmental challenges and responsibly manage the planet's resources," said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company. "As we face a resource-stressed world with growing global demands on food and water, we must seek solutions that drive mutual benefit for business, communities and nature. Working with WWF will continue to challenge our Company to advance our sustainability programs, and WWF's expertise will be instrumental in reaching our environmental performance goals, some of which they help us set."
"We are witnessing unprecedented demands on natural resources around the world. Continuing with business as usual puts everything at risk, including the viability of business," said Carter Roberts, President and CEO, World Wildlife Fund. "These problems can only be solved by working together, and our work with Coca-Cola has proven that collaboration can amplify and accelerate the impact we need."
Under the renewed and expanded partnership, Coca-Cola and WWF jointly developed the following goals:
Improve water efficiency by 25 percent: Coca-Cola will improve its water use efficiency per liter of product produced through operational advancements throughout the Coca-Cola system. This target complements the 21.4 percent improvement in water use efficiency achieved from 2004 through 2012.
Help ensure healthy, resilient freshwater systems: Coca-Cola and WWF will expand their joint conservation efforts to 11 key regions across five continents, including river basins of the Amazon, Koshi, Mekong, Rio Grande/Bravo, Yangtze and Zambezi; the catchments of the Great Barrier Reef and Mesoamerican Reef; and key regions in the Amur-Heilong, Atlantic Forests and Northern Great Plains.
Reduce CO2 emissions by 25 percent: Coca-Cola will work to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions across its entire value chain, making comprehensive carbon footprint reductions across its manufacturing processes, packaging formats, delivery fleet, refrigeration equipment, and ingredient sourcing.
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