2Sustain

Water concerns are becoming more and more globally integrated and complex, and many corporations are now seeking out cooperative partnerships to help mitigate the increasing threat of water risks.

Here’s an example: Just last week, The Coca-Cola Company and The Nature Conservancy announced the release of a water footprint report, entitled Product Water Footprint Assessments: Practical Application in Corporate Water Stewardship. Released in conjunction with World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, this report details three pilot studies that were conducted on Coca-Cola products and ingredients.

Water footprint assessments like this one provide valuable insights into water use throughout the supply chain, including both direct and indirect water use and the impacts of use on local watersheds and communities. Those insights can then open new opportunities for companies to enhance their water stewardship, while mitigating the risks associated with water scarcity.

For instance, in this particular study, Coca-Cola and the Conservancy found that the largest portion of the product water footprints assessed in the pilot studies comes from the field –not the factory.

“We see significant opportunity to engage more directly with our agricultural suppliers to advance sustainable water use for the cultivation of ingredients in our supply chain,” Denise Knight, Water and Sustainable Agriculture Director, The Coca-Cola Company, said in a press release. “Our initial efforts will focus on the sustainable sourcing of sugarcane, oranges and corn.”

Water footprints typically identify three types of water: (more…)

With a nod to World Water Day yesterday, PepsiCo has announced a new set of commitments aimed at providing access to safe water to three million people in developing countries by 2015. In addition, the company says it is will continue to promote greater water-use efficiency across its operations and to source water in ways that respect communities and ecosystems.

In 2007, PepsiCo set a global goal to reduce water consumption by 20 percent per unit of production by 2015. To date, the company has achieved a more than 15 percent improvement in water use efficiency as compared to the company’s 2006 baseline. PepsiCo has also: (more…)

This past Sunday, March 22, marked the 17th anniversary of World Water Day, an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The theme for this year’s event was “Transboundary waters: sharing water, sharing opportunities,” and over the past few weeks, it has been great to see global corporations stepping forward to recognize World Water Day, as they reaffirm their commitment to responsible water stewardship.

Case in point: PepsiCo. On Friday, PepsiCo positioned itself as an international water stewardship leader by announcing an ambitious agenda of global initiatives. Essentially, the company is pursuing a two-pronged approach. First, PepsiCo is improving water efficiencies within its own operations. Second, the company is committed to working with communities and other organizations to increase access to clean water around the world.

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