MainDB: Building reputations, securing resources: Teaming up for water conservation

Title: Building reputations, securing resources: Teaming up for water conservation
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NWPTypeOfOrganization: Non-governmental organization (NGO); Private sector
NWPGeographicRegion: Asia
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Adaptation element: Education and training; Impact assessment; Science and research
Adaptation sector/theme: Food security; Water resources; Ecosystems; Disaster risk reduction
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Country: Viet Nam; Thailand
NWPDataSource: PSI
Description: In 2007, The Coca-Cola Company became the first multinational corporation to set a goal to return to communities and to nature an amount of water equivalent to that which is used in all of Coca-Cola’s products and their production. This means reducing the amount of water used to produce their beverages, recycling water used for manufacturing processes so it can be returned safely to the environment, and replenishing water in communities and nature through locally relevant projects. Coca-Cola’s dozens of bottling plants across the South and Southeast Asian regions are part of these efforts, which include improving water efficiency in the plants by 20 percent by 2012.
 
Two major factors motivated Coca-Cola’s ambitious conservation aim. First, water is the lifeblood of Coca-Cola’s business and the foundation of sustainable communities and ecosystems. Coca-Cola recognized that it cannot have a healthy and growing business unless the communities it serves are sustainable themselves. Coca-Cola’s water stewardship strategy incorporates four core focus areas: Plant Performance; Watershed Protection; Community Water Initiatives; and Global Awareness and Action. Over the past decade, Coca-Cola has greatly increased its understanding of the many water issues the world faces and the link to the markets and business. Water stewardship is currently and for the foreseeable future the main sustainability focus of Coca-Cola. The second motivation for the water goal was the outcome of a 2005 global risk assessment that Coca-Cola undertook. The assessment showed that climate change would increase water scarcity, social problems, and economic setbacks for the company. Coca-Cola concluded that water scarcity presents one of the biggest challenges to its operations and decided to embark on a process of internal improvements and engagement with local communities to help conserve water resources for all uses.
 
The first step toward establishing the water goal came in 2006, when Coca-Cola partnered with The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to help conserve some of the world’s most important freshwater resources, including the Mekong River. The company’s seven bottling plants in Thailand and three in Vietnam made them particularly interested in pursuing work in these regions. Coca-Cola chose the watersheds to work in based on their biodiversity, the opportunity for meaningful conservation gains in the area, and the importance of the watershed to the communities in which Coca-Cola operates. Upon completion of these initial assessments, Coca-Cola and local partners established watershed restoration and community natural resource management projects in Manchakhirri district in Khon Kaen province, Thailand and Tram Chim National Park in Dong Thap province, Vietnam.
 
The overall objective of the partnership is to achieve conservation of these river basins’ biodiversity through management of natural systems and promotion of sustainable livelihoods. In an effort to achieve this, WWF also works to encourage better agricultural practices in the dry season and to utilize integrated paddy field fisheries during the flood seasons. Livelihood promotion is an indispensable component in sustainable watershed conservation and local people will be involved as beneficiaries and co-conservers throughout the project.
 
Coca-Cola provides technical support for wastewater treatment, water quality testing, wetland restoration activities, streamlining relevant government policies, reforestation, and soil enhancement projects. Future plans include more direct water projects – such as working with Coca-Cola bottlers in Thai Namthip Limited in Thailand and SABCO in Vietnam to promote improved water stewardship – as well as initiatives like providing microcredit to local residents to set up small businesses, and promoting vocational training and education among local youth through schools and NGOs.
Expected outcome: All of these sustainable development efforts will help Coca-Cola to maintain its water supply, even in the face of drought, and will help the communities it supports to be more resilient and better able to adapt to climate change impacts. Assisting local communities in the conservation of their natural resources also serves to improve the reputation of the company among local stakeholders and international consumers.
Further information: The Coca-Cola Company website: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainable-business/water-stewardship
For further information go to: http://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/partnerships
NWPGeographicScope: Regional
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NWPInformationType: Case study
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NWPPartner: The Coca-Cola Company; World Wide Fund for Nature
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NWPReferences: Adapting for a Green Economy: Companies, Communities and Climate Change (UN Global Compact): https://www.unglobalcompact.org/resources/116 
Making Climate Your Business: Private Sector Adaptation in South East Asia (WRI): http://www.wri.org/publication/making-climate-your-busines
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Created at 21/04/2016 11:45 by Roberto Felix
Last modified at 04/05/2022 03:53 by Nicholas Hamp-Adams
 
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