2Sustain

Forming a partnership that illustrates the current trend towards non-profit/for-profit sustainability alliances, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has teamed up with The Coca-Cola Company to improve the water quality of the Yangtze River in China.

In many ways, the Yangtze has taken the brunt of China’s colossal economic growth, and even though the river provides China with 35 percent of its fresh water, it now ranks number one on WWF’s list of the ten most-threatened rivers in the world. For Coca-Cola, which operates 39 bottling plants in China, the partnership with WWF represents an opportunity to strengthen its commitment to water stewardship while mitigating its water risks.

A recent post at Knowledge@Wharton explains how non-profit/for-profit partnerships such as this one can be mutually beneficial:

For environmental groups, such alliances add clout to their projects, an important factor in drumming up support and funding from the general public and other corporations. Coca-Cola’s rural program “is really making a difference in the Yangtze,” notes Chris Williams, director of fresh water conservation at the WWF. “If we could get this kind of involvement from a wider range of private-sector actors in the Yangtze, the results could be considerable.”

For companies, such undertakings bolster their image and brand, according to Piet Klop, a senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank World Resources Institute (WRI). “The last thing a branded company would want,” he states, “is to end up in a newspaper [report] saying it is operating a bottling plant in an area where households cannot even access clean drinking water.”

According to the article, the WWF-Coca-Cola partnership has evolved into a $24 million, seven year commitment to support fresh water programs globally. Obviously, Coca-Cola, the world’s largest beverage company, recognizes the critical significance of integrating water issues into its overall strategic business planning. Water scarcity risks are growing in many parts of the world, and as I have posted about before, it’s time for all companies to assess and better manage their water footprints.